Romy Gonzalez hit a two-run triple among his three hits and Lance Lynn pitched six strong innings to lift the host Chicago White Sox to a 5-2 win against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon.
Chicago secured its first series sweep of the season to close a nine-game homestand with a 6-3 record.
Michael Massey reached Lynn for a two-run home run in the second inning, but the Royals couldn’t score after that en route to their seventh loss in nine games.
Kansas City employed the “opener” approach, and the strategy paid off early. Carlos Hernandez retired the first six White Sox batters in order, including three via strikeout.
Expected to pitch the majority of the game on Sunday, Max Castillo recorded outs against four of the first five hitters he faced before Chicago found its offense.
Luis Robert smacked a solo home run in the fourth inning for the White Sox.
One inning later, two singles and a Hanser Alberto sacrifice bunt set up a big rally. Gonzalez drove a two-run triple to right field to score Clint Frazier and Gavin Sheets, then crossed the plate one batter later on Andrew Benintendi’s RBI sacrifice fly.
Lynn (3-5) and three relievers limited Kansas City after that.
Lynn scattered two runs and four hits in six innings with two walks and six strikeouts for his third win in four May starts. Joe Kelly pitched a perfect ninth to notch his first save, extending Chicago’s streak to 19 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings of relief.
The Royals had four hits, including three singles, on Sunday, and were outscored 12-3 in the series. Kansas City didn’t have a baserunner Sunday following Maikel Garcia’s walk leading off the seventh.
Castillo (0-1) allowed five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings with one strikeout. Royals pitching issued just one walk in the game.
Benintendi drove in two runs while extending his hitting streak to eight with an RBI single in the seventh.
Alberto left the game after injuring himself while running to first base on his fifth-inning bunt. The White Sox said he is day-to-day with left shoulder soreness.
–Field Level Media
