CHICAGO (AP) — When the Chicago White Sox scheduled Greek Heritage Night for Tuesday, they probably didn’t consider that Mike Moustakas would be in the visiting dugout.

Moustakas put a capper on the festivities by homering twice to help the Kansas City Royals snap a four-game losing streak with a 7-1 rout.

Afterward, Moustakas was asked if he was aware of the promotion.

“Oh, I knew,” he said. “I was telling everybody that today was my day. It just ended up working out that way.”

Moustakas, who has 12 homers this season, went 3 for 5 with three RBIs. He raised his batting average to .198

The Royals entered the game with a major league-worst 55 homers and had managed a total of six runs during the losing streak.

“He’s starting to swing the bat pretty good,” manager Ned Yost said of Moustakas. “We’ve seen him in spurts, it doesn’t matter who’s pitching. When he’s right, he’s putting good swings on the ball.

“Tonight he was really seeing the ball good, he was in a good position to hit and he was really driving the ball.”

Bruce Chen (2-2) allowed one run and five hits in five innings to get the win.

Chen has 82 career victories to tie former New York Yankees great Mariano Rivera for the most wins by a Panamanian.

“For me, he’s one of the best pitchers to ever pitch in the big leagues and to tie him for most wins by a Panamanian really means a lot to me, and my family is very happy,” Chen said.

Adam Dunn went 2 for 4 with a solo homer for the White Sox, who had won three of four.

Chicago starter Scott Carroll (4-6) allowed five runs and 11 hits in five-plus innings.

“I thought I was just rusty; that’s kind of the way I felt,” Carroll said. “Overall, I just didn’t think I had my best stuff. But I have to be better, the sixth inning is what really got me. Up until that point I just felt rusty.”

The Royals had a players-only meeting before the game and needed a good start. Moustakas provided it when he led off the second with a long homer to right field to make it 1-0. The White Sox tied it when Dunn led off the fourth with a homer to left.

The Royals broke the game open with a four-run sixth inning thanks to some timely hits — another missing element during the losing streak — and White Sox miscues.

Billy Butler led off with a double and the next batter, Raul Ibanez, drove him in with a double to make it 2-1. Alcides Escobar followed with an infield hit to put runners on first and third, and Ibanez scored on a passed ball as Nori Aoki walked for a 3-1 lead.

That was all for Carroll as Javy Guerra entered.

Guerra, though, immediately dug a deeper hole with his defense. With runners on first and second, Jarrod Dyson bunted back to the vicinity of the mound. Guerra fielded the ball cleanly, but his throw to first base was wild and sailed by second baseman Gordon Beckham and down the right field line, allowing Escobar to score on the throwing error.

The Royals capped the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly by Omar Infante to make it 5-1.

“The tack-on runs were huge for us right there,” Yost said.

Moustakas added a two-run homer in the eighth.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — About the only pitch that Chris Sale wouldn’t make Monday night was his case for the American League’s Cy Young Award.

Then again, if he keeps pitching like he has so far this season, he won’t have to say much.

Sale pitched seven effective innings in his first outing since the All-Star break and Adam Dunn had two RBIs and scored a run to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 3-1 victory over the slumping Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Sale (9-1) wasn’t at his best, allowing seven hits and a walk in seven innings, but he worked out of jams in the fourth and sixth innings. He struck out eight and now has allowed three runs or less in 14 of his 15 starts this season.

Those certainly appear to be Cy Young-worthy numbers, right?

“Like I’ve always said, I don’t pay too much attention to that,” Sale said. “I have a job to do and I have to focus on doing that and playing games. We’re right in the hunt right now, so these are the dog days and you have to bear down now. Now’s not the time to be thinking about yourself or some trophy or whatever.”

Chicago manager Robin Ventura, though, didn’t hesitate to respond when asked if Sale was a legitimate candidate for the award despite missing a month earlier in the season.

“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” Ventura said. “There’s no reason why he shouldn’t be in the discussion. I don’t care if he missed a month or not. He’s good.”

Dunn went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks as the White Sox for the third time in four games since the break.

Danny Valencia went 1-for-2 with a RBI for Kansas City, which has dropped four straight and seven of eight. The Royals had a team meeting before the game, but couldn’t turn around their fortunes as they dropped two games below .500 (48-50).

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie (5-9) gave up three runs on five hits in six innings to get the loss. He had been 4-0 against the White Sox with the Royals before Monday.

“I thought Guthrie threw the ball all right,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “The first inning they had some well-placed groundballs. He was a little off command-wise in the first inning. Ended up hitting two guys by mistake but still kind of limited the damage there.”

The White Sox took a 2-0 lead in the first inning as the first four batters reached base and then Dunn singled up the middle against the shift — essentially hitting the ball to the normal shortstop position — to score both Adam Eaton and Alexei Ramirez.

The Royals trimmed the lead in half in the fourth. Alex Gordon singled with one out, stole second and then scored on a two-out single by Valencia. The next batter, Alcides Escobar, doubled down the left-field line, but Valencia was nailed at the plate as left-fielder Alejandro De Aza and Ramirez got the ball to catcher Tyler Flowers for the putout to end the inning.

“That’s huge,” Sale said of the play at the plate. “That’s a game-changer, a game saver, just gives us momentum. It was awesome.”

The White Sox regained the two-run edge in the sixth as Dunn scored on a sacrifice fly by Gordon Beckham to make it 3-1.

That was plenty of a cushion for Sale, who has allowed a total of three runs in 23 ? innings in his last three starts.

Ronald Belisario pitched and eighth and Jake Petricka worked the ninth for his fourth save.

“I think I’m just trying to get better day in and day out,” Sale said.

— Associated Press —

BOSTON (AP) — Jon Lester just wants to put up impressive numbers on the mound. He will worry about the figures on his next contract later.

Red Sox fans showed appreciation for his latest brilliant outing with loud applause as he walked to the dugout after his eighth and final inning Sunday.

“I hope people are more pleased with how I’m pitching and not how I’m handling contract stuff,” the All-Star left-hander said after a 6-0 win that gave Boston a three-game sweep over the Kansas City Royals.

Lester, who can become a free agent after the season, allowed no earned runs for the third time in four starts. He struck out eight and gave up two walks and four hits. Only one Royals player reached third base.

Clearly, he hasn’t let the uncertainty over where he will be pitching next season hurt his pitching this season.

“He’s been a model for others to witness as players get to that stage of their career,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “He’s been able to handle it, I think, in a professional manner.”

Lester (10-7) is 4-0 with a 0.85 ERA over his last seven starts with 47 strikeouts and eight walks in a span of 52 2/3 innings. He has yielded just one earned run in 31 innings.

“You’ve got to take each one as an individual,” Lester said. “If I’m out there thinking about what I did last time, I’m not worried about the right things.”

Lester extended his scoreless streak to 14 innings before Junichi Tazawa got the first out of the ninth. Edward Mujica retired the next two batters.

“We matched up against an All-Star pitcher today and he was on top of his game,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Yordano Ventura (7-8) gave up all six runs.

The first scored on Dustin Pedroia’s forceout at second base in the first, Daniel Nava hit a two-run double in the third, and Boston added three in the fourth on David Ross’ two-run homer and Nava’s sacrifice fly.

That was more than enough support for Lester as he keeps building a case for a lucrative contract.

“If these guys are happy with the way I’m throwing and how I’m going about my business, then that’s all I care about,” he said. “The other stuff will take care of itself when the right time comes.”

Boston entered the game in last place in the AL East, percentage points behind Tampa Bay, but won for the seventh time in eight games.

Kansas City went scoreless after losing 2-1 Saturday night. The Royals have lost nine of 12, are 9-17 since a 10-game winning streak, and have scored less than two runs in four of their last six games. They open a three-game series at the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.

“You basically just shake it off and get right back out there,” designated hitter Billy Butler said. “We faced a tough left-hander today and it doesn’t get any easier. We face Chris Sale tomorrow.”

The Royals put runners at first and second in the first when Eric Hosmer was hit by a pitch with two outs, and Danny Valencia singled. But Alex Gordon flied to left.

Alcides Escobar was left on base after a one-out single in the second, and Lester retired eight consecutive batters before Escobar led off the fifth with a double. He reached third on a one-out groundout, but the threat ended when Lorenzo Cain flied out, leaving him hitless in 22 at bats.

Hosmer singled with one out in the sixth to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. After Valencia struck out, Gordon drew a walk, the first issued by Lester in three starts. But Butler grounded out.

Cain walked leading off the eighth, but Lester finished his outing by getting Omar Infante to ground into a double play before fanning Hosmer.

“Jon Lester did a really nice job of holding us down,” Yost said, “mixed in his curveball effectively, spotted his fastball well and used his cutter really well.”

Brock Holt scored Boston’s first run after he and Nava singled. Nava’s double in the third came after a walk to Ross and a single by Jackie Bradley Jr. In the fourth, Shane Victorino doubled and scored on Ross’ sixth homer. Nava’s sacrifice fly drove in Bradley, who had singled.

— Associated Press —