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Cardinals rally past Pirates 6-5 in 11 innings

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Down four on the road late against a team feeding off the adrenaline of its home opener, the St. Louis Cardinals waited patiently for the buzz to wear off.

When it did, they pounced.

Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer to provide St. Louis with a much-needed spark, and the Cardinals took advantage of a bumpy outing by Pittsburgh’s bullpen to slip past the Pirates 6-5 in 11 innings on Monday.

The Cardinals rallied to tie it in the eighth and again in the ninth then took their first and only lead in the 11th. Paul DeJong singled off Steven Brault (0-1) with two outs, moved to third after a hit batter and a walk and sprinted home from third when Pirates reliever Nick Kingham and catcher Francisco Cervelli got crossed up. Kingham’s pitch squirted past Cervelli and went all the way to the backstop, allowing DeJong to score easily.

“You knew you had to just keep your head down and keep going,” said Wong, who has three home runs through five games after hitting nine in 127 games in 2018. “This was either going to be a game where they kept going or we were going to get them back. We were confident in ourselves. We knew they weren’t too far ahead.”

Jordan Hicks (1-1) worked two scoreless innings for St. Louis. John Gant picked up the save despite issuing a one-out walk to finish a sloppy 4-hour, 53-minute marathon that featured 16 pitchers, 16 walks, four hit batters, three errors and two home plate umpires. Crew chief Jerry Layne left in the seventh after taking a ball off the mask and was replaced by Vic Carapazza.

“That’s the definition of gutty right there, across the board,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “Literally, contributions from everyone. The bullpen was outstanding. … The offense scratched and clawed. What can you say about that kind of game? It was crazy.”

So crazy that St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina made his first career appearance at third base in his 1,875th game in the majors. Molina made the cameo at third in the 11th when Matt Wieters — the last position player available for the Cardinals — came in to pinch hit in the 11th and stayed on to catch in the bottom of the inning. Molina did not have a defensive chance.

“Yadi had this big smile on his face,” Shildt said. “He was happy about it. He loves catching, but he wanted to play some third, I guess.”

PITTSBURGH FIZZLES

Colin Moran went 2 for 3 with three RBI, including a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth that put the Pirates up 5-4. Josh Bell drove in two runs for Pittsburgh, and Chris Archer struck out eight and allowed just two hits in five shutout innings in his 2019 debut.

Archer exited with a 4-0 lead only to watch the bullpen give it away as the Pirates dropped their home opener for the first time since 2014. Six of Pittsburgh’s seven relievers allowed at least one baserunner. Richard Rodriguez allowed his second home run in as many appearances when Wong took him deep in the seventh. Closer Felipe Vazquez stranded the go-ahead run at second base to end the eighth but then gave up Jose Martinez’s game-tying double with one out in the eighth.

A pair of late errors — one by Moran at third base in the seventh, another by shortstop Erik Gonzalez in the ninth- gave St. Louis life.

“Unfortunately with the free (bases) we gave them, too many opportunities late to extend innings, that’s what cost us the game,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.

WOBBLY WAINO

St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright, hoping to bounce back after an injury-plagued 2018, struggled with his command. The 37-year-old walked four — three in the first inning alone — and gave up four runs on four hits in four innings while throwing just 37 of his 73 pitches for strikes.

“I didn’t have command of anything, really,” Wainwright said. “My fastball command was terrible. My cutter was sloppy. My curveball was loopy and the split, I only threw a few of them. You can’t walk guys in the big leagues. No excuses coming from my end. I’ve got to be better.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: RF Dexter Fowler left in the bottom of the seventh shortly after getting hit in the left foot with a pitch. Schidt said X-rays on the foot were negative and Fowler is day-to-day. … IF Jedd Gyorko should be ready to return from a strained right calf in time for Thursday’s home opener against San Diego.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (0-1, 9.00 ERA) will make his second start of the season when the teams meet on Wednesday. The 30-year-old allowed five runs in five innings in a loss to Milwaukee on opening day.

Pirates: Jameson Taillon (0-1, 6.00) is 3-1 with a 3.42 ERA in eight career starts against St. Louis.

— Associated Press —

Northwest’s McCollum named NABC Division II Coach of the Year

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KANSAS CITY (April 3, 2019) – For the second time in three seasons, Northwest Missouri State University head men’s basketball coach Ben McCollum is the recipient of the NABC Division II Coach of the Year Award presented by Wilson after leading the Bearcats to the 2019 NCAA Division II championship.

Northwest Missouri State topped Point Loma Nazarene University, 64-58, on Saturday in Evansville, Ind., to take the national title and complete a remarkable unbeaten season with a 38-0 record. The Bearcats also won the NCAA championship in 2017 with a 71-61 win over Fairmont State, dropping just one out their 36 games played. Over the past three seasons, McCollum has guided the Bearcats to a remarkable record of 100-5.

A former Bearcat standout as a player, McCollum completed his 10th season as head coach and his teams have an overall record of 241-75 with six Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular season championships.

McCollum will receive his award on Sunday, April 7, at the annual AT&T NABC Guardians of the Game awards show in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Main Auditorium at the Minneapolis Convention Center during the NABC Convention and NCAA Men’s Final Four®.

— Northwest Athletics —

Mizzou’s Cunningham earns Third Team All-America honors

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NEW YORK – Mizzou Women’s Basketball senior guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) was named to the Associated Press All-America Third Team, announced Monday. Cunningham is the program’s first AP All-American.

Cunningham earned AP All-America Honorable Mention honors after outstanding sophomore and junior campaigns. Cunningham was recently named to her third straight All-SEC First Team by the league’s coaches, the first player in program history to earn All-Conference First Team honors in three consecutive seasons. In addition, she was named to the All-SEC First Team by the AP for the second straight season.

Cunningham closed her Mizzou career as Mizzou’s all-time scoring leader, finishing her historic career with 2,187 points. Among program records, Cunningham also ranks first in free throws made (537), second in three-pointers made (238), third in three-point percentage (40.3), third in free throw percentage (83.9), fourth in points per game (17.0) and fourth in assists (390).

In her senior campaign, Cunningham was the nation’s only player to average 17.0 ppg, make 80 three-pointers, make 150 free throws and record 200 rebounds. In conference play, Cunningham led the SEC in three-point shooting (46.5 percent) and threes per game (2.9). She reached 20 points in 16 games this season, including 10 times against SEC opponents, and 30 points four times.

Cunningham earned SEC All-Tournament honors after averaging 25.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg at the SEC Tournament, as she became the first Mizzou player to earn All-Tournament honors since 1994.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Griffons fall to UCO as Castaneda suffers first loss

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ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western senior pitcher Anthony Castaneda suffered his first loss of the season as the Griffons (12-13, 9-8) fell 5-1 to Central Oklahoma (18-10, 11-6) on Sunday afternoon.

A two-run home run in the first were the only runs Castaneda surrendered, but they were enough to hold back a Griffon offense that was limited to one run on six hits.

NOTABLES

  • Castaneda fell to 6-1 on the season with a seven-inning start on Sunday. He struck out seven, and walked two, both walks coming in the first two innings
  • Nolan Monthei pulled the Griffs within one with a solo home run on the first pitch of the third
  • MWSU got two more runners on in the third, but couldn’t get them home
  • For the game, the Griffons left six on base
  • UCO added three insurance runs in the ninth on the Griffon bullpen
  • Missouri Western was charged with two errors for the second day in a row
  • Talbott Buford entered in the ninth, making his first relief appearance since Feb. 8. He retired the one batter he faced

UP NEXT

  • The series finale is scheduled for a noon first pitch on Monday.

— MWSU Athletics —

Royals drop finale to White Sox 6-3

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lucas Giolito has mastered the Kansas City Royals, a trend that continued Sunday.

The rest of the major leagues? The Chicago White Sox hope the 6-foot-6 right-hander is ready to dominate there, too.

Giolito took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning in his first start of the season, and the White Sox beat the Royals 6-3 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep in the season-opening series.

“It feels good to start off on a good note,” Giolito said. “Throughout my whole career, I’ve always had my not as good starts earlier in the year, and I wanted to change that this year.”

Giolito (1-0) walked Whit Merrifield on four pitches to begin the game, but then retired 19 straight before Alex Gordon’s single with one out in the seventh. Gordon fouled off four consecutive pitches before lining a curveball into center field.

“Besides that curveball, he was pretty much on all day,” Gordon said. “Like I say, give him credit. It was a good at-bat, but he had a great game.”

Giolito couldn’t finish the inning. Ryan O’Hearn drove in Gordon with a double into the right field corner, and Lucas Duda chased Giolito with an RBI single. Giolito was charged with two runs in 6 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. He threw 99 pitches.

Giolito was 10-13 with a 6.13 ERA in 2018 and led the AL in walks (90) and the majors in earned runs allowed (118). In seven starts against the Royals in his career, Giolito is 4-0 with a 2.40 ERA. In 14 starts against the other AL Central teams, Giolito has a 5.62 ERA.

“He was attacking the strike zone,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “Breaking ball was working well, he was commanding his fastball, probably tired a little bit there at the end, but really did a really nice job.”

Ryan Burr got the final out of the seventh to end the threat.

Yonder Alonso preserved the no-hitter with a diving stop in the sixth, and he and Jose Abreu homered on consecutive pitches in the fourth off starter Jorge Lopez (0-1).

Alex Colome pitched a perfect ninth for his first save.

Alonso had two hits and three RBI. Four other White Sox had two hits in the game, including Abreu.

Alonso also robbed Billy Hamilton of a hit by diving down the first base line to snag a line drive in the sixth.

Lopez and reliever Tim Hill combined to walk three straight during the sixth inning, resulting in two runs. Lopez allowed four runs in five-plus innings.

Royals right-handers Kyle Zimmer and Chris Ellis made their major league debuts. Zimmer threw a scoreless eighth inning, surrendering a single and striking out two.

The fifth overall pick in the 2012 draft, Zimmer spent six seasons in the minor leagues and spent last year way from the organization while working on his mechanics at the Driveline baseball facility in Seattle.

“This is just the first of hopefully many outings. Hopefully the first of many zeros,” Zimmer said.

“We’re just scratching the surface,” Yost said. “This is nothing. He’s got the ability to put together a nice run this year and establish himself as a major leaguer. That’s what he’s got to do now.”

Ellis matched Zimmer with a scoreless ninth, giving up two singles and a walk in the inning after retiring the first two batters he faced.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: OF Jon Jay (right hip strain) will have his hip reevaluated when the team gets back to Chicago later this week, and RHP Ian Hamilton is throwing as he continues to work his way back from right shoulder inflammation. Renteria said both players, who have been on the 10-day injured list since March 25, are improving each day.

UP NEXT

White Sox: Ivan Nova makes his first start Monday as a member of the White Sox as Chicago travels to Cleveland for a two-game series.

Royals: Brad Keller will make his second start of the season Tuesday against the Twins. Keller has pitched 41 consecutive innings without allowing a home run, dating to Aug. 31. It’s the longest active streak in the AL and the second-longest streak in the majors.

— Associated Press —

Northwest baseball outslugged Washburn in series opener 14-9

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MARYVILLE, Missouri – The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team used a 17-hit attack to score a 14-9 win over the Washburn Ichabods at the Bearcat Baseball Field on Sunday afternoon.

All nine batters recorded at least one hit and scored a run as the Bearcats took a lead, saw the Ichabods come back only to have the home squad put it away late with eight runs in its final two at bats.

Washburn took a 2-0 lead in the second but Bearcat starter Max Spitzmiller avoided more damage by cutting down a runner at the plate on a comebacker.

The Bearcat offense started churning in the third. Logan Rycraft started the inning by being hit by a pitch. As the lineup rolled over, Peter Carlson singled to left to put runners on the corners. Calvin Rudolph drew a walk to load the bases. Connor Quick singled to left to clear the bases. The Washburn left fielder charged the ball and had it roll under his glove allowing Rudolph to score from first. Alixon Herrera followed with an RBI single to score Quick and give Northwest a 4-2 lead.

Spitzmiller allowed only one hit in the third, fourth and fifth innings as he put up zeroes on the scoreboard.

Washburn struck for three runs in the sixth to chase Spitzmiller. Spitzmiller went 5 1/3 innings and gave up six hits and five earned runs with one strikeout. Gibson Brown came on in the sixth to extinguish the Ichabods by striking out both batters, but Washburn had taken a 5-4 lead.

Derek Hussey’s one-out single and a walk by Rycraft put two runners on for Rudolph. Rudulph roped a two-out two-RBI double to left giving the Bearcats a 6-5 lead.

Washburn got to Brown in the seventh for four runs, including a three-run bomb to left-center by Michael Oyervides.

But the Bearcats refused to go quietly and rattled the bats again in the seventh for four-spot of their own. Matt Gastner singled to start the rally and Jay Hrdlicka followed with a walk. Mondesi Gutierrez came through with his first home run of the season and fourth homer as a Bearcat. Gutierrez’s three-run bomb tied the game at 9-9. Hussey kept the hits coming with a hotshot to third. Hussey stole second and advanced to third on a single from Rycraft. Carlson then laid down a squeeze bunt that scored Hussey and gave the Bearcats a 10-9 lead.

Aaron Easley worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning with a strikeout for the Bearcats.

Northwest added four insurance runs in the eighth. Quick and Herrera tallied back-to-back doubles to start the eighth. Gastner knocked in Herrera with a single to make to 12-9. Hrdlicka singled to put runners on first and second. Hussey singled up the middle with one out to score Gastner for the third run of the inning. Rycraft ripped an RBI-single to left to complete Hrdlicka’s path around the bases and give Northwest a 14-9 lead.

Trevor Dudar worked the ninth and allowed a hit to go along with a strikeout to finish off the Bearcat victory.

Northwest and Washburn will close the three-game series with a doubleheader Monday beginning at noon.

NOTES: Connor Quick and Derek Hussey notched three hits … Quick has 13 multi-hit games, including a trio of three-hit games … Hussey has 12 multi-hit contests … this was Hussey’s sixth three-hit game … Gutierrez tallied a team-high three RBI … Herrera extended his hitting streak to eight games … eight different starters recorded at least one RBI … Gibson earned the win and moved to 3-1 on the season.

— Northwest Athletics —

Cardinals lose on a walk-off at Milwaukee Sunday

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich led the way for the Milwaukee Brewers, from his first swing to the very last one for the game.

So it was a pretty typical day for the reigning NL MVP.

Yelich hit his fourth homer in the first inning and a two-run double in the ninth, lifting the Brewers to a dramatic 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

“What we’re witnessing is greatness,” Milwaukee slugger Ryan Braun said. “It’s absolutely incredible.”

Ben Gamel led off the ninth with a pinch-hit double and advanced on Lorenzo Cain’s infield single off reliever Jordan Hicks’ glove. Yelich then hit a liner into the gap in left-center, driving in Gamel and Cain.

“We were just trying to find a way to push one across and tie the game,” Yelich said. “(Hicks) has great stuff. One snuck in the line, and Lo’s deflected off his glove and we were able to pull it off.”

Yelich tipped his cap to Gamel.

“It’s really hard to pinch-hit against a guy who throws that hard and has that good of stuff,” Yelich said. “(Gamel) was able to battle and sneak one in there. He got the whole thing started for us.”

Yelich tossed his helmet in the air in celebration as Cain slid face first across the plate, giving Milwaukee three wins its opening four-game set against rival St. Louis. Yelich’s teammates rushed the field and doused the reigning NL MVP with Gatorade in a raucous celebration at second.

The 27-year-old Yelich hit .326 with 36 homers and 110 RBI last year, leading the Brewers to the NL Central title. He is 6 for 12 with six walks and eight RBI so far this season.

“I’ve never seen anyone this good at baseball for this long,” Braun said. “I mean, maybe (Barry) Bonds in his prime. As great as (Mike) Trout is. I’ve seen (Albert) Pujols. I’ve never seen anyone this good for this long.”

Yelich began his day with a long drive into the second deck in right against Michael Wacha, tying the major league record for homers in consecutive games to start a season. He also became the first player to win the MVP award and then homer in his first four games of the next season.

“Candidly, I can’t recall a series like that,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “I’ve had some guys that are smoking hot against us, but I’ve never seen that kind of damage over four days.”

Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Carpenter and Paul DeJong homered for St. Louis, but Hicks (0-1) blew his first save opportunity of the season. Wacha struck out seven while pitching six innings of one-run ball.

The Cardinals got a scare in the ninth when Kolten Wong dove to steal second and got hit right below the left ear by Yasmani Grandal’s throw. Second baseman Mike Moustakas quickly signaled to the Cardinals’ dugout for help. Wong eventually got up and remained in the game.

Milwaukee right-hander Corbin Burnes struck out 12 in five innings in his first major league start. But Burnes was hurt by the long ball.

DeJong connected for a two-run drive in the fourth, and Carpenter and Goldschmidt added consecutive homers in the fifth. Goldschmidt also went deep three times Friday night.

The Brewers got two back in the seventh. With two out and a runner on first, left-hander Andrew Miller came in to face Yelich and walked him. Ryan Braun and Travis Shaw then hit RBI singles before Miller struck out Jesus Aguilar swinging to end the threat.

Jacob Barnes (1-0) worked the ninth for the win.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: RHP Jeremy Jeffress (right shoulder weakness) pitched an inning in Arizona on Saturday and is scheduled to go again on Tuesday. If the rehab goes as planned, he’ll pitch at Triple-A San Antonio on Friday. “We’re ready to get him into games,” manager Craig Counsell said.

QUOTABLE

“He’s a good hitter,” Miller said of Yelich, who homered off him Friday night. “You can’t go to one spot. There’s no hole you can sit there and just go after and try to execute in one spot. You got to mix and match. It’s a game of chess and he got me.”

GOLDSCHMIDT SETS CARDS RECORD

Goldschmidt’s four homers are the most ever by a Cardinal in a series against the Brewers. Pujols (three times), Scott Rolen and Fernando Tatis hit three homers in a single series against Milwaukee.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright makes his first start of the season at Pittsburgh on Monday. His 13 career wins over the Pirates trails only Johnny Cueto of the San Francisco Giants (20).

Brewers: RHP Zach Davies makes his first start in Cincinnati on Monday. He’s looking to bounce back after he was hampered by injuries last season.

— Associated Press —

MWSU tennis loses at Northeastern State 7-0

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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Missouri Western women’s tennis team (8-10, 0-5 MIAA) faced off against Northeastern State (6-6, 4-1 MIAA) on Sunday, losing to the RiverHawks by a score of 7-0 on the road.

Joanna Abreu Roman and Karolina Ström started the day off well for the Griffons, as the team’s top doubles pair gave Missouri Western a 6-2 victory on the number one courts. The win improves their record to 14-4 in duals doubles this season, with 11 of those wins coming on the number one courts.

Northeastern State would go on win the final two doubles matches. Bojana Vuksan and Federica Salmaso fell in a competitive 7-6 defeat, giving the RiverHawks the doubles advantage.

Northeastern State also managed to sweep the singles. Abreu Roman and Salmaso both played their way to a third set, but eventually lost their matchups. After splitting the first two sets in her match on the number three court, Abreu Roman lost in a narrow 10-8 third set.

Missouri Western Tennis will return home for the first of three-straight home duals, beginning with a non-conference matchup with Rockhurst (7-7) on April 2.

MWSU VS. NSU
SINGLES
#32 Tatjana Stoll (NSU) def. #69 Karolina Ström (MWSU) 6-1, 6-1
#29 Mayra Jovic (NSU) def. Mireia Birosta (MWSU) 6-1, 6-0
Betka Gombarova (NSU) def. Joanna Abreu Roman (MWSU) 6-1, 3-6, 10-8
Kristela Vidnere (NSU) def. Ciarra Gilmore (MWSU) 6-3, 6-2
Karla Tomaic (NSU) def. Federica Salmaso (MWSU) 6-4, 1-6, 10-2
Melissa Vera (NSU) def. Bojana Vuksan (MWSU) 6-0, 6-3

DOUBLES
Abreu Roman/Strom (MWSU) def. #26 Jovic/Stoll (NSU) 6-2
Vidnere/Gombarova (NSU) def. Alvarado Maldonado/Dunn (MWSU) 6-1
Vera/Warnock (NSU) def. Salmaso/Vuksan (MWSU) 7-6 (2-0)

— MWSU Athletics —

Griffons blow 3-0 8th inning lead, lose to Central Oklahoma 5-3

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ST. JOSEPH – Central Oklahoma (17-10, 10-6) scored all of its runs in the final two innings to cover up a gem thrown by Missouri Western baseball (12-12, 9-7) starter Jacob Purl.

Purl exited in the eighth after striking out 12, walking none and allowing just one hit. UCO responded with three runs in the eighth and broke a 3-3 tie with two in the ninth to break a fourth-place tie with MWSU in the MIAA standings.

NOTABLES

  • Purl’s 12 strikeouts were a career-high for the senior transfer and his zero walks were a season-low
  • UCO’s first hit off Purl didn’t come until the sixth, a double down the right field line
  • The Griffons scored two in the first off a Casey Danley home run and a Wyatt Meyer single that included an error by the UCO centerfielder that allowed Andrew Curry to score from first and Meyer to get to second
  • Meyer drove in a run in the third with a double to left center
  • UCO pitching held the Griffons without a hit the rest of the game after Meyer’s double
  • Broncho starter Dylan Hall and the rest of the UCO pitching staff did its best to match Purl’s gem. Hall struck out eight and the next three UCO pitchers combined to strike out four more Griffon batters
  • UCO got the ninth inning rally going on a controversial call at first. The umpire ruled Dusty Stroup’s throw from third base pulled Andrew Curry off the bag on a very close play that put UCO’s Kace Massner on to lead off the ninth.
  • Three batters later, Massner scored what proved to be the winning run on a pinch-hit triple

UP NEXT

  • Game two of the series is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

Royals beat White Sox 8-6 for a 2-0 start

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — If the Kansas City Royals are going to have success in 2019, they’ll need to rely on their speed. That was very evident Saturday in an 8-6 win over the Chicago White Sox on a wet, cold and windy afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

Jorge Soler had three hits and three RBI and Alex Gordon scored three runs despite not getting a hit. Billy Hamilton got three hits and scored twice for the Royals, 2-0 for the first time since their World Series-winning season in 2015.

The first pitch was delayed 30 minutes because of rain. When the game began, it was 38 degrees and felt like 28, whipped by 18 mph winds.

The Royals had two big innings when they scored seven of their eight runs, and speed played a role in all of them. Nowhere was it more evident than a three-run fourth when Hamilton advanced from first base on a flyout to right field.

“We were screaming for him to tag,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “That’s the type of baseball we like to play. We like to push it. He’s got that phenomenal speed to be able to do it.”

For Hamilton, it was no big deal.

“I take pride in my baserunning,” he said. “It’s easier to score from second base than it is from first base. I kind of know the guys who are playing. I knew if he would have thrown me out I wouldn’t have been mad. You have to take the chance.

The speed on the basepaths seemed to rattle White Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez (0-1). He gave up four runs on six hits through four-plus innings.

“If they get on base, they can be a disruption, a distraction for you because you have to keep checking on them just to make sure they don’t take a big lead and take off earlier,” Lopez said. “I don’t think that they ran a lot against me, but it’s just part of the game.”

Chicago manager Rick Renteria said Lopez struggled to stay on track.

“He was pulling pitches quite a bit early and wasn’t able to get back to front,” he said. “He wasn’t able to do it as well as we wanted him to. He was not having a good feel for the baseball this afternoon.”

“It was a little bit cool for him, as it was for both sides. I think he was pulling a lot more pitches than we’re used to. He tried to make an adjustment but just wasn’t able to,” he said.

Jakob Junis (1-0) gave up three runs — all in the sixth on Jose Abreu’s homer — over 5 2/3 innings. He allowed six hits, walked one and struck out six.

It was the second straight strong starting effort for the Royals. Brad Keller threw seven shutout innings in the season-opener Thursday.

Ian Kennedy pitched the ninth for the first save of his career. He gave up two quick singles, but then retired the next three batters.

“Nerves go away quickly when you get first and second,” he said. “That’s when you know you can’t give up any more singles. You try to put it to a stop.”

The Royals made it 4-0 in the fifth when Gordon walked and scored on a double by Soler, chasing Lopez.

Yolmer Sanchez and Yoan Moncada singled in the White Sox sixth and Abreu homered.

The Royals came back with four runs in the bottom half. Whit Merrifield hit a two-run single, extending his hitting streak to 22 games back to last season, Gordon walked and Soler drove in both runners with his second double.

Moncada homered in a three-run seventh.

Prized White Sox rookie Eloy Jimenez got his first two big league hits after going 0 for 3 in his debut Thursday.

UP NEXT

White Sox: RHP Lucas Giolito will make his season debut for the White Sox as they conclude the season-opening series.

Royals: RHP Jorge Lopez will get the start for the Royals.

— Associated Press —

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