Maikel Garcia’s tiebreaking, run-scoring double in the seventh inning capped a three-hit, three-RBI night as the Kansas City Royals beat the visiting Chicago White Sox 5-4 on Wednesday night.
While the Royals (68-90) snapped a five-game skid, the White Sox (81-77) missed a chance to regain control of the AL Central as well as a chance to become the first team in MLB history to claim a playoff berth after three consecutive seasons of 100-plus losses.
The White Sox’s magic number for the playoffs dropped to 1 when the New York Mets defeated the Texas Rangers, but the Cleveland Guardians (82-76) stayed one game ahead in the division race despite losing to the Boston Red Sox.
With the contest tied 4-4 in the seventh, Kansas City’s Carter Jensen (3-for-4) led off with a single and was forced at short on Bobby Witt Jr.’s grounder to shortstop. Witt advanced to second on Jac Caglianone’s groundout. With two outs, Witt scored easily on Garcia’s double into the left field corner off Hagen Smith (3-3).
After the Royals’ Seth Lugo yielded four runs and seven hits over 3 1/3 innings, Anthony Gose, Connor Thomas (2-1), Lucas Erceg and Steven Cruz (eighth save) held Chicago to two hits.
Kansas City wasted no time getting to Chicago opener Bryan Hudson, who allowed four of the five batters he faced to record hits before being pulled for Erick Fedde. Hudson was charged with four runs in one-third of an inning.
Jensen and Witt, who extended his on-base streak to 20 games, opened the first with singles. After advancing on Caglianone’s groundout, both came home via Garcia’s single by a drawn-in White Sox infield. Garcia scored on a double from Vinnie Pasquantino, who came home on shortstop Colson Montgomery’s throwing error for a 4-0 lead.
The White Sox came back in the third with four runs of their own. Kyle Teel delivered a two-run single to left with one out, thn Miguel Vargas followed with a bloop RBI single and Munetaka Murakami tied it by lining a double into the right field corner.
Lugo hit his second batter of the inning, Tristan Peters, to load the bases with two away. However, he got Chase Meidroth, who opened the frame with a bunt single, to pop out.
Lugo exited with two men on and one out in the fourth. Gose entered and loaded the bases before getting Vargas to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
The White Sox stranded just one runner over the last five innings as Braden Montgomery (3-for-4) singled with two outs to get the tying run on base, but Sam Antonacci flied out to the track in left center.
