Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh inning, and the Chicago White Sox stopped an eight-game slide with a 7-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday. The winning rally for the White Sox started when Danny Mendick and Tim Anderson hit consecutive two-out singles off Collin Snider (2-1). Scott Barlow then came in, and Vaughn drove his first pitch into the home bullpen in left for his fourth homer. “I was just up there looking for a good pitch and I got a fastball middle-up and put a good swing on it,” Vaughn said. “This is definitely something to build off.” The White Sox added another run in the eighth when Leury García scampered home on Reese McGuire’s double-play grounder. Jake Burger hit a solo homer as Chicago got its first win since April 16. Burger finished with three hits, and Vaughn had four RBIs. Whit Merrifield drove in two runs for Kansas City, which lost for the fifth time in six games. Zack Greinke permitted three runs and five hits in six innings. Manager Mike Matheny admired Greinke’s grit on the chilly afternoon, with the start time moved up to avoid the cold temperatures forecasted for Wednesday night.
“He did such a good job in there in the second and the third limiting the damage,” he said. “Locating well despite the elements. I thought it was a terrific job of pitching.”
The Royals trailed 3-0 after five, but Merrifield hit a tying sacrifice fly off Bennett Sousa (1-0) in the top half of the seventh. Dylan Cease struck out nine in six innings, helping the White Sox stop their longest losing streak since June 2018. The right-hander allowed two runs and three hits. Chicago also ended a streak of nine straight games with a defensive error. Edward Olivares began the sixth with an infield single for Kansas City’s first hit of the game. Sousa got his first major league win. Kendall Graveman struck out four in two innings to earn his first save of the season. Game three of the series will be this afternoon at 1:10 and we will broadcast the game here on KDWD starting with the pregame show at 12:30