KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Chicago White ace Chris Sale left with a tworun lead after seven innings, Kansas City first baseman Eric Hosmer had a message in the Royals dugout.
“This is when the magic happens,” Hosmer yelled to his teammates.
It did. Again.
Cheslor Cuthbert drove in the go-ahead run with an infield hit in a three-run eighth, and the Royals rallied for the third consecutive game in a 5-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
Chicago wasted a 4-2 lead in the eighth after failing to protect a 5-2 seventh-inning advantage on Friday and a 7-1 ninth-inning margin on Saturday. It is the first time the Royals have won three consecutive games when trailing by two runs or more entering the seventh inning.
White Sox relievers allowed 14 runs, 15 hits and 8 walks over 6 1/3 innings in the three-game series, and Chicago has lost 14 of its last 18 games after a 23-10 start.
“If that’s our worries right now, is our bullpen, I think we’re in a great spot,” said Sale, who left the game after throwing 118 pitches. “They’ve got a good offense. It’s going to happen. You can’t expect everybody to be perfect every time. I like our chances of those guys getting it together, no doubt.”
Kansas City has won 12 of 17 to move into the AL Central lead.
Sale was on track to become the major leagues’ first 10-game winner. Lorenzo Cain hit a home run with one out in the eighth off Nate Jones (2-1), Hosmer doubled, and Kansas City loaded the bases with Kendrys Morales’ walk and Paulo Orlando’s single.
Jones walked Brett Eibner (Arkansas Razorbacks) on a low, outside pitch, forcing in the tying run. Matt Albers relieved and Cuthbert hit a grounder that second baseman Brett Lawrie snagged with a dive as pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson came home from third. Lawrie’s throw from his back went about 10 feet, and first baseman Jose Abreu picked up the ball and threw out Orlando at the plate.
“It’s got to be in the back of their minds: Here they come,” Royals Manager Ned Yost said of Cain’s home run.
ROYALS 5, WHITE SOX 4
Chris Young (2-5), activated from the disabled list Saturday, pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, and Wade Davis threw a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances.
Hosmer had 3 hits and went 8 for 13 with 7 RBI in the series.
“It’s a tough three days for the bullpen,” White Sox Manager Robin Ventura said. “You had opportunities, and you let those slip away. So, you’ve got to grind through it and be tough. Offensively we fought back and still got ourselves in position.”
Sale fell behind in the first when Cain hit an RBI double and scored on Hosmer’s single. Sale allowed 6 hits, struck out 6 and walked 2.
“We’re too good of a team,” Sale said. “I can’t tell you enough that this is nothing but a speedbump. … This was as bad of a series as you could possibly have, and there’s still no doubt in our minds that we’re going to push through this and figure it out and find a way to get back and win some ballgames.”
Kansas City’s Edinson Volquez gave up 3 runs and 6 hits in 6 innings.
Orlando made a diving catch in right to rob Austin Jackson on an extra-base hit in the seventh, holding the White Sox to a sacrifice fly.
YANKEES 2, RAYS 1 Starlin Castro’s two-run, seventh-inning home run off Jake Odorizzi was the Yankees’ only hit of the game, enough to give New York a victory over Tampa Bay. According to Baseball Reference data going back to 1913, the Yankees’ only other one-hit victory was when Charlie Mullen had an RBI single to beat Cleveland in six innings in a doubleheader on July 10, 1914. RED SOX 5, BLUE JAYS 3 Dustin Pedroia hit an RBI double off Drew Storen in the 11th as Boston avoided a three-game sweep. Clay Buchholz (3-5) pitched one inning in his first relief appearance since Aug. 17, 2008.
ORIOLES 6, INDIANS 4 Hyun Soo Kim’s first major league home run broke a seventh-inning tie against Jeff Manship (0-1), and Nolan Reimold added a leadoff home run in the ninth. Darren O’Day worked out of bases-loaded, one-out trouble in the eighth, and Zach Britton got out of a jam in the ninth for his 14th save.
TWINS 5, MARINERS 4 Joe Mauer and Miguel Sano both hit home runs for a third consecutive game and the Minnesota Twins polished off a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners. Mauer and Sano hit back-to-back home runs off Taijuan Walker (2-5) into the bullpens behind left field for a 3-2 lead in the fourth.
ATHLETICS 4, TIGERS 2 Pinch-hitter Billy Butler had a two-run single in the sixth as Oakland rallied. A’s starter Rich Hill, who left the game with an apparent left shoulder injury, went 6 1/3 innings to win his fifth consecutive start, allowing 2 runs and 5 hits.
ASTROS 8, ANGELS 6 Pinch-hitter Carlos Correa had a three-run home run off Mike Morin (1-1) in the 13th inning. Correa got a run-scoring hit in the 13th inning for the second time in six games, following up his game-ending single against Baltimore on Tuesday.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NATIONALS 10, CARDINALS 2 Stephen Strasburg (9-0) won his 12th consecutive decision dating to last season, pitching six innings of one-run ball as Washington salvaged a fourgame split. Strasburg improved to 12-0 in 15 starts since losing to the Mets on Sept. 9, and the Nationals have won all 15 of those games. BREWERS 5, REDS 4 Jonathan Lucroy drove in three runs, giving him nine RBI in the series and sending Cincinnati to its 12th loss in 13 games. Jonathan Villar scored three runs and drove in another and Milwaukee won for the fifth time in six games.
MARLINS 7, BRAVES 3 Derek Dietrich hit a tiebreaking, two-run home run and drove in four runs before getting hurt on a foul ball hit into Miami’s dugout.
CUBS 7, PHILLIES 2 Ben Zobrist hit a three-run home run off Vince Velasquez (5-2) for a 5-0 lead in the third as Chicago completed a three-game sweep and won its fifth consecutive. John Lackey (5-2) gave up 1 run and 4 hits in 7 innings, sending Philadelphia to its seventh loss in nine games.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, PADRES 3 Archie Bradley (4-5) struck out a career-high nine in 7 1/3 innings and Arizona had its second consecutive five-run second inning. Bradley (2-0) allowed three runs, four hits and a walk.
GIANTS 8, ROCKIES 3 Hunter Pence had three of a record-tying eight doubles for San Francisco. Pence’s double in the eighth helped equal a mark accomplished four times since the Giants moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season. DODGERS 4, METS 2 Adrian Gonzalez snapped a ninth-inning tie with a two-run single off struggling closer Jeurys Familia, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Mets. Curtis Granderson hit a tying triple for the Mets immediately after Clayton Kershaw was lifted with two outs in the eighth. But the Dodgers quickly regrouped for their sixth victory in seven games since losing four consecutive.
INTERLEAGUE
RANGERS 6, PIRATES 2 Struggling sluggers Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland hit home runs during a four-run fourth inning. Martin Perez (3-4) gave up two runs in six innings and finished May with a 2.23 ERA.
Sports on 05/30/2016