Royals rookies rake in rout, 6-2

Zach Greinke had a solid outing and the rookie hitters for the Royals had a field day at the dish as Kansas City beats Chicago 6-2.

The Royals quickly jumped on Lucas Giolito. In the bottom of the first, the Royals loaded the bases with a single and two walks, but MJ Melendez struck out to end the threat. The White Sox got on the board in the second inning when Leury Garcia singled home Jose Abreu, who had led off the inning with a double. The Royals responded immediately. With two out in the bottom of the frame, Nicky Lopez grounded a single, stole second base, and came around to score on a Whit Merrifield single. In the bottom of the third, Bobby Witt Jr. led off the inning. He got a hanging breaking ball from Giolito and crushed it out to center field for a no doubt home run, his fourth of the season. That gave Witt his third straight game with an extra base hit and gave the Royals a 2-1 lead.

After an uneventful fourth, the White Sox struck back in the fifth. With one out, Adam Engel drew a walk and Andrew Vaughn moved him to third with a single. Tim Anderson slapped a curveball from Greinke in to right field to score Engel, tying the game. The Sox threatened again the sixth. Yasmani Grandal and Garcia slapped singles to chase Greinke from the game. Collin Snider entered and promptly allowed an infield single to Engel to load the bases. But Snider coaxed a groundout to end the threat.

It would be all Kansas City from there. Emmanuel Rivera drove in Melendez with a triple in the bottom of the frame to give Kansas City a 3-2 lead. Kyle Isbel brought him home with a sac fly. In the eighth, Hunter Dozier led off the frame with a double and, after a Carlos Santana groundout, Melendez crushed a first pitch cutter from Sox reliever Aaron Burr into the seats in center for a two-run dinger, pushing the lead to 6-2. Scott Barlow slammed the door with a perfect ninth to close out the game.

Royals rookies each had two hits in this game, and each drove in at least one run. Relievers Snider, Josh Staumont, Taylor Clarke, and Barlow combined for 3.1 shutty and allowed just three baserunners. The victory tonight evens the series. The Royals will go for their second consecutive series win tomorrow afternoon.

Zack Greinke - 5.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 0 HR

Lucas Giolito - 5.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 1 HR

MJ Melendez - 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Tim Anderson - 3-5, RBI