THE STREAK IS OVER! Royals win 6-1 over White Sox

The Royals snapped a nine-game losing streak as the offense came alive in a 6-1 win over the White Sox, their first win against the White Sox in eight tries. The six runs are the most they have scored in a game since April 14 against the Angels.

It looked like it might be more of the same for the Royals when the White Sox score first. In the fourth inning, Jacob May, who had just one hit in 38 plate appearances going into tonight, singled home a run off Jason Vargas to make it 1-0 White Sox. But the Royals immediately took the lead in the bottom of the inning when Alex Gordon doubled, and Jorge Bonifacio blasted a pitch 432 feet for his second Major League home run to make it 2-1 Royals.

In the fifth, the Royals loaded the bases on singles by Alcides Escobar and Mike Moustakas and a walk to Lorenzo Cain. It looked like the rally would stall out when Eric Hosmer struck out for the second out, but the Royals finally found their two-out rally magic when Salvador Perez singled home two runs to make it 4-1 Royals.

Jason Vargas continued to look sharp tonight, allowing just five hits and one run over six innings. He did walk more hitters tonight (3) than he had in his previous four starts combined (2) and he struck out just one hitter, but he did not allow any extra-base hits, and needed 96 pitches to get through six frames.

The Royals added on some insurance runs in the seventh with Eric Hosmer put one in the air for his second home run of the season. Peter Moylan, Joakim Soria, and Scott Alexander tossed three hitless innings with five strikeouts to preserve the victory. It is the first win in the Central Division for the Royals after dropping their first eight contests.

The Royals aren’t out of the basement yet, but today is the first step towards redemption. Perhaps all the club needed was a turn of the page of their calendar to get the bats going.