Kansas City Royals vs Chicago White Sox Match Player Stats On Aug 13, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Aug 13, 2017

CHICAGO -- Whit Merrifield and Jorge Bonifacio homered to lead the Kansas City Royals in a 14-6 rout of the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon.

Merrifield drove in five runs and No. 9 batter Drew Butera had a career-high four hits for the Royals, who won two straight to take the three-game series against Chicago following a five-game losing streak.

The White Sox had won four of their last five games. They were trying to win back-to-back series for the first time since mid-June.

Royals left-hander Jason Vargas (14-6) allowed three runs, struck out seven and walked two in six innings to match his career high for victories in a season. He also won 14 games in 2012 with Seattle. Vargas was 1-3 with a 6.94 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break.

White Sox starter Derek Holland (6-12) made his shortest start of the season, allowing seven runs in two innings and snapping Chicago's streak of four consecutive quality starts. He gave up seven hits, a home run and three walks.

The Royals, who were a game back in the American League wild-card race pending late afternoon play, scored four runs in the second, third and sixth innings. Butera singled to load the bases in the second inning before left fielder Leury Garcia committed a throwing error to bring in the first run. Lorenzo Cain's single drove in two runs before he advanced on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on Melky Cabrera's single.

Bonifacio led off the third with his 15th home run, and Merrifield added his 14th, a three-run shot in the third inning.

Tim Anderson hit a two-run home run, his 13th, and Jose Abreu had an RBI single to cut Kansas City's lead to 8-3 in the fifth. Center fielder Cain made a running catch near the wall to end the inning with two on.

Bonifacio's RBI single, Cheslor Cuthbert's sacrifice fly and Merrifield's two-run triple scored four more runs for the Royals in the sixth.

The White Sox put up a three-run spot in the seventh. After an error, Avisail Garcia had a two-run double and Nicky Delmonico added an RBI double. Delmonico has reached base safely in 12 straight games to start his career, extending the team record. He stretched his hitting streak to 10 games.

Kansas City also had an impressive defensive play in the second. With two on, shortstop Alcides Escobar ended the inning with a running, underhanded catch in center field.

The Royals took a 7-6 lead in the teams' season series.

NOTES: Royals RHP Jake Junis (4-2, 4.70 ERA) is expected to start Monday against Oakland. He is 3-5 with a 2.92 ERA with Triple-A Omaha. Junis will be filling in for RHP Trevor Cahill (right shoulder impingement), who went on the 10-day disabled list Thursday. ... White Sox 3B Matt Davidson (right wrist contusion) said he is still having issues swinging a bat and will be reevaluated in the next couple of days. He went on the 10-day disabled list Aug. 8, retroactive to Aug. 4. He will join the team on its trip to Los Angeles but not play. ... 1B Jose Abreu is the first player in White Sox history to start his major league career with four straight 20-home run seasons, according to STATS LLC. He hit his 20th home run Saturday. ... The Royals rallied to beat the White Sox 5-4 Saturday for their 34th comeback victory of the season, tying them for third-most in the majors with the Diamondbacks and one fewer than the Angels and Dodgers. Kansas City is one comeback victory short of last season's total.