 allowed just two hits in four innings of relief to get the win. Jace Fry, the last of six relievers, got the final two outs for his second save.Ryan O'Hearn, Whit Merrifield and Alex Gordon homered for Kansas City, which dropped to 2-13 in the rubber game of series this season.White Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez needed just 11 pitches to retire the side in order in the first, but was rocked for six runs and three homers (on 46 pitches) in the second. O'Hearn started things with a two-run shot, Merrifield made it 5-0 with a three-run blast and Gordon added a solo shot. Gordon's homer was the 169th of his career, tying Hal McRae for fourth in Royals history.Kansas City starter Heath Fillmyer allowed just one hit in the first three innings, but then suddenly lost it. The right-hander faced six batters in the fourth and didn't record an out.Jose Abreu and Daniel Palka had back-to-back singles to start things and Garcia hit a three-run homer to trim the deficit in half. After Nicky Delmonico singled, Anderson homered to make it 6-5. Narvaez followed with a solo blast to tie the score and chase Fillmyer.In the fifth, Narvaez gave the White Sox a 7-6 lead with a two-out RBI single off Brian Flynn (3-4), scoring Garcia from second base.PROMOTEDHighly touted prospect Michael Kopech will make his major league debut Tuesday night when the White Sox host the Minnesota Twins. The 22-year-old is 7-7 with a 3.70 ERA in 24 starts with Triple-A Charlotte this season, including a 4-0 mark with a 1.84 ERA in his last seven starts. The hard-throwing right-hander has 170 strikeouts in 126 1/3 innings.TRAINER'S ROOMRoyals: LHP Danny Duffy (shoulder impingement) threw long toss on Saturday and is scheduled to throw live batting practice on Monday. Manager Ned Yost said Duffy will start at Tampa Bay on Thursday - the day he's eligible to come off the 10-day DL - if there are no issues.UP NEXTRoyals: RHP Jorge Lopez (0-2, 4.44 ERA) makes his second start of the season on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series at Tampa Bay. RHP Ryan Stanek (1-3, 2.74) pitches for the Rays.White Sox: RHP Lucas Giolito (8-9, 6.15) takes the mound Monday night at Minnesota in the makeup of a game snowed out in April. LHP Stephen Gonsalves (0-0, 0.00) makes his major league debut for the Twins.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
StubHubStubHubRoyals, White Sox look to claim series 2h ago• 2 min read The Chicago White Sox will attempt to bounce back from a disappointing loss when they face the Kansas City Royals in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field.Chicago (45-77) is coming off a 3-1 loss to the Royals in which it squandered several key scoring opportunities. The biggest miscue came when outfielder Adam Engel failed to put down a bunt with two strikes. He fouled it off for strike three.White Sox manager Rick Renteria wants Engel -- and all of his players -- to learn from those mistakes going forward."Every single major league hitter should know how to bunt," Renteria said to the Chicago Sun-Times. "And I make no bones about that. That ball has got to get down. It didn't work out. He didn't get it down. He was frustrated about it. It's not that he didn't want to get it down, he just didn't get it down. ..."It's a good place. We have a critical situation, a moment in which you have to focus and concentrate and do your job. These are the tests that we put all our men through because a situation is demanded of them."If he's able to get it down, to slow the game down enough to do his job there, he'll be able to slow it down and do it when it's really, really important, which could be a playoff game, could be a wild-card game, could be a postseason game." Those days could be on the horizon for the White Sox, but this season is about player development. Chicago has lost seven of its last 11 games and has scored one run or fewer 23 times this season.Kansas City (38-85) has struggled even worse. The Royals are coming off only their fourth win in the past 16 games.Royals outfielder Alex Gordon will look to start a hot streak at the plate after homering in Saturday's victory. The blast marked Gordon's first home run since Aug. 1. Seven of his eight homers this season have come on the road.Meanwhile, White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu carries a five-game hitting streak into the series finale. The Cuban native is hitting .344 (33-for-96) with eight doubles, nine home runs and 24 RBIs in his past 24 games.White Sox right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (4-9, 4.40 ERA) will make his 25th start of the season. The talented 24-year-old has gone seven starts without a victory, with his last win coming July 1 against the Texas Rangers. He is 0-4 with a 6.20 ERA since.In six career starts against the Royals, Lopez is 2-1 with a 3.66 ERA. He has five walks and 20 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings.The Royals will counter with right-hander Heath Fillmyer (1-1, 3.61), who will make his seventh start of his rookie campaign. He picked up his first career win Aug. 8 against the Chicago Cubs.Fillmyer has faced the White Sox once in relief, allowing one run in 2 1/3 innings for a 3.86 ERA.
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