Sale wins 16th as White Sox drop Royals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Chris Sale picked up his 16th victory with a complete game and Carlos Sanchez homered for the first time in nearly a year as the Chicago White Sox beat the reeling Kansas City Royals 7-4 on Friday night.
Sanchez hit a three-run homer -- his first in 141 at-bats since Sept. 21, 2015 -- in a four-run eighth inning to rally Chicago.
Sale (16-8) struck out 10, walked one and held Kansas City to four runs (three earned) and eight hits for his big league leading eighth complete-game, throwing 119 pitches.
Kelvin Herrera (2-5) took the loss, giving up the homer to Sanchez.
The Royals have lost five straight to begin their eight-game homestand.
Kansas City seized a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning with Whit Merrifield's triple scoring Billy Burns with the first run. Kendrys Morales singled home Merrifield for the other run.
Melky Cabrera homered in the ninth for the final White Sox run.
Royals starter Ian Kennedy left after six innings, allowing two runs, five hits and three walks and striking out six.
Kennedy gave up two singles in the first inning, which is one more hit than he allowed in six scoreless innings in beating the White Sox on Sunday. Tyler Saladino was thrown out trying to steal second after his single. Jose Abreu singled, but Cabrera's pop up ended the inning.
The White Sox scored a run without a hit in the second. Kennedy walked Todd Frazier, Alex Avila and Avisail Garcia to begin the inning. That upped Kennedy's pitch count to 45 while retiring only three batters and prodded pitching coach Dave Eiland to visit the mound.
Kennedy got out of the inning with token damage. After striking out Sanchez, Frazier scored on Leury Garcia's ground out.
The White Sox made it 2-0 in the third. Abreu singled with one out, his 12th multi-hit game in 18 games. Abreu stopped at third on Cabrera's double down the left-field line and scored on Frazier's sacrifice fly. Frazier has 91 RBIs, a career high.
Sale retired the first 13 batters before Salvador Perez rolled a single to center on an 0-2 count. Cheslor Cuthbert's double down the left-field line advanced Perez to third. Hunter Dozier's two-out infield single scored Perez, while Cuthbert came home on Saladino's errant throw.
NOTES: White Sox DH Justin Morneau was not in the lineup for the fourth straight game with discomfort in his neck. ... RF Hunter Dozier, the Royals' 2013 first-round pick, started his first big league game Friday. ... Royals CF Billy Burns batted leadoff for the first time. He became the sixth player to bat first this season. ... RHP Nick Tepesch, who the Royals designated for assignment Sept. 6, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Omaha. Tepesch, who went to Blue Spring High (a Kansas City suburb), made one 2016 start for the Dodgers and pitched for four different clubs in the Pacific Coast League. ... White Sox RF Adam Eaton leads the major leagues with 18 outfield assists. If he receives a Gold Glove, he would be the first White Sox outfielder to win one since Ken Berry in 1970. ... White Sox RHP Miguel Gonzalez and Royals LHP Jason Vargas are the Saturday probables. It will be Vargas' first start of the season after Tommy John surgery in July 2015.