Royals beat White Sox, end nine-game slide
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Left-hander Jason Vargas worked six strong innings as the Kansas City Royals topped the Chicago White Sox 6-1 on Monday night to end a nine-game losing streak.
Vargas (4-1) permitted one run on five hits over six innings, throwing 96 pitches. He walked three and struck out one. He lost to the White Sox 12-1 last week, giving up four runs on seven hits over five innings.
Kansas City's Eric Hosmer homered in the seventh with Christian Colon, who led off the inning with a single, along for the ride. Hosmer drove an 0-1 Dylan Covey pitch out the opposite way.
Covey (0-2) was removed after Hosmer's blast. He surrendered six runs on nine hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings.
Royals rookie Jorge Bonifacio hit his second home run with Alex Gordon aboard with two outs in the fourth. After Gordon's opposite-field double, Bonifacio turned on a 2-1 Covey pitch and drove it an estimated 432 feet over the left field wall.
The White Sox scored in the top of the fourth when Jacob May's two-out single scored Todd Frazier, who led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third on Omar Narvaez's single. May was 1-for-33 before the hit.
The Royals upped their lead to 4-1 in the fifth on Salvador Perez's two-out, two-run single that struck the third base bag and bounced into left field.
Alcides Escobar and Mike Moustakas singled and Lorenzo Cain walked to load the bases. After Hosmer struck out, Perez plated Escobar and Moustakas with his single. Perez leads the Royals with 14 RBIs.
The White Sox threatened in the third after Tyler Saladino walked and Tim Anderson singled. Vargas got out of that jam by retiring Melky Cabrera on a fly ball to Bonifacio in right and striking out Jose Abreu.
NOTES: White Sox OF Avisail Garcia, who left in the fifth inning Sunday with a tight left groin, did not play. Manager Rick Renteria said it was just a precaution on a chilly night to give Garcia another day. ... OF Jorge Soler, who is on the Royals' disabled list with an oblique strain, is hitting .308 through eight rehab games with Triple-A Omaha. He went 2-for-2 for Omaha on Monday. ... Royals LHP Travis Wood has not pitched since April 24. He is 0-2 with an 18.56 ERA in nine relief appearances. ... White Sox LHP Jose Quintana and Royals LHP Danny Duffy are the Tuesday pitching probables for the second game of this four-game series.