Seth Lugo threw his first career complete game, Bobby Witt Jr. tallied three hits and the Kansas City Royals beat the visiting Chicago White Sox 4-1 on Sunday to secure a three-game sweep.
Lugo (12-4) allowed one run on three hits while striking out six and walking none. Kansas City won its ninth game in 10 tries against Chicago this season.
Hunter Renfroe, Maikel Garcia and Dairon Blanco recorded RBI singles in the bottom of the eighth, putting Kansas City ahead for good. Garcia, Blanco and Vinnie Pasquantino each finished 2-for-4.
White Sox rookie Drew Thorpe threw six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out five. Thorpe lowered his ERA to 3.03 and has gone at least six innings in five straight starts. Tommy Pham went 2-for-4 and drove in Chicago’s lone run.
The White Sox have lost seven straight.
Pham led off the game with a single, but he was caught stealing by Salvador Perez on a strikeout double play with Luis Robert Jr. batting.
In the bottom of the first, Adam Frazier was hit by a pitch before Witt singled. However, Thorpe got Pasquantino to ground into a fielder’s choice and Perez to ground into a double play to end the inning.
From there, neither offense threatened until the top of the sixth. Nicky Lopez was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame. Lugo then retired Nick Senzel and Korey Lee, but Pham drove in Lopez on a single to center, breaking the scoreless tie.
With Thorpe still pitching in the home half of the sixth, Witt and Pasquantino each tallied one-out singles. With runners at the corners, Thorpe struck out Perez and retired Renfroe on a flyout, sending the game to the seventh with the one-run lead intact.
Chicago reliever Justin Anderson replaced Thorpe for the bottom of the seventh after 97 pitches, one shy of his career-high. Anderson allowed one-out singles to Garcia and Blanco before Kyle Isbel’s sacrifice bunt tied the game at one.
John Brebbia replaced Anderson in the bottom of the eighth.
Witt and Pasquantino greeted Brebbia with back-to-back singles. After Perez struck out, Renfroe’s line drive base hit scored Witt for the go-ahead run.
Michael Massey fanned, but Garcia and Blanco followed with two more RBI singles to give the Royals a 4-1 lead and chase Brebbia (0-5) from the game.
–Field Level Media
