Salvador Perez went 3-for-3 and Brady Singer turned in a sterling pitching performance as the host Kansas City Royals edged the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Friday night.
The Royals hustled to take the lead at 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth against Chicago’s hard-throwing reliever Michael Kopech (0-1).
Perez, the Royals’ eight-time All-Star catcher, drew a one-out walk, and speedster Dairon Blanco came on to pinch run and immediately stole second base.
MJ Melendez then sliced a sinking liner to left for a single and Blanco dashed home to score the go-ahead run.
Will Smith came on to try to get the save for Kansas City but allowed a two-out double to Luis Robert Jr., who appeared to suffer a leg injury. Braden Shewmake was called upon to pinch run for Robert.
After a walk to pinch-hitter Kevin Pillar, right-hander James McArthur took over and got Andrew Vaughn to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
Perez put Kansas City on top in the bottom of the first when he laced a line drive off the top of the wall in center field, scoring Vinnie Pasquantino, who had singled with two out.
The White Sox tied things up at 1-1 in the top of the second when Gavin Sheets pulled a 2-2 slider from Singer 391 feet over the wall in right for his first homer of the season.
Singer, who threw seven shutout innings against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday, gave up just two hits over 6 1/3 innings to Chicago, allowing one run.
Singer, who struck out four and walked one, retired 16 of his last 17 hitters (including 15 in a row), during his 72-pitch outing.
Erick Fedde, who was signed by the White Sox after being named MVP of the Korea Baseball Organization last season, also pitched well.
Fedde allowed just one run over five-plus innings with two walks and four strikeouts over 91 pitches.
Chris Stratton (1-0) got the win in relief and McArthur got his first save for Kansas City.
–Field Level Media