All good things must end.
The seven game winning streak of the Kansas City Royals has now been swept under the rug as the Chicago White Sox held off a sweep, doubling up on the Royals 10-5 Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.
Chicago got off to a solid start, taking a 4-0 lead on the Royals by the middle of the fourth inning. Royals starter Bruce Chen labored through 5.1 innings in his start, allowing four runs on nine hits. He threw 98 pitches before giving way to Louis Coleman and the bullpen.
Kansas City finally mustered some runs of their own in the fifth inning when Yamaico Navarro singled to score Mike Moustakas, and then Billy Butler grounded into a fielder's choice to score catcher Brayan Pena.
Kansas City would draw even closer in the sixth inning against White Sox starter John Danks, as Jeff Francoeur reached on a Gordon Beckham error. Francoeur would then steal second and score on a Johnny Giavotella triple. After a Moustakas ground out, Giavotella would be thrown out at the plate on a Pena fielder's choice ground ball.
Danks moved his mark to 7-12 as he threw six innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on 10 hits. Chen fell to 11-8 overall with the loss.
Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski would hit back-to-back solo home runs in the seventh off Coleman to stretch the Chicago lead back to 6-3. Pierzynski would again go deep in the next inning, this time a three-run shot off Jesse Chavez to ultimately put the game out of reach.
Chavez allowed four runs on three hits in one inning pitched. He'd also walked two, while striking out three.
Kansas City scored once in the bottom of the ninth on a Giavotella infield single, scoring Eric Hosmer.
The Royals and White Sox both had 15 hits on the day, but Kansas City was ineffective at bringing runners around to score. Hosmer and Giavotella lead the team with three hits each on the day.
Kansas City falls to 67-87 overall and has an off day on Monday before taking on the American League Central Division Champion Detroit Tigers at The K for a brief two game series. It's the last home series of the year. Luis Mendoza will get his first start of the year Tuesday, facing Detroit's Brad Penny.