James Shields tossed seven shutout innings and rookie David Lough homered and drove in another run to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

The Royals (49-51) have won four straight and six of eight since the All-Star break. The White Sox (40-60) have lost four of five.

Shields (5-7) allowed eight hits and walked two but faced only one real scoring threat, working out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning.

The veteran right-hander, in his first season in Kansas City, has pitched better than his won-loss record might indicate. He lowered his ERA to 3.09 and has been especially effective on the road, where he improved to 4-3 with a 2.50 ERA in 12 starts.

Chicago starter Jose Quintana (5-3) also pitched well but allowed two runs on six hits in seven innings to pick up the loss.

Lough led off the top of the third inning with a home run into the right-field bullpen to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. That’s where the score stayed until the seventh, when the Royals stretched the lead to 2-0 on a sacrifice fly by Miguel Tejada that scored Salvador Perez, who led off the inning with a double.

The White Sox’s best threat against Shields came in the sixth, when they loaded the bases with two outs. But catcher Josh Phegley grounded into a fielder’s choice to third base on the first pitch to end the inning.

The Sox finally got on the board in the eighth on a solo homer by Conor Gillaspie, but the Royals added three insurance runs in the ninth on run-scoring hits by Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas, and a sacrifice fly by Lough.

— Associated Press —