The Kansas City Royals were still struggling at the plate. This time it didn’t matter: Jeremy Guthrie was on the mound.

The 10-year veteran struck out nine and gave up one run in six innings Thursday, and Royals snapped a two-game losing streak to start the season, beating the Chicago White Sox 3-1.

Guthrie (1-0) scattered five hits and walked one for Kansas City, which took its first lead of the season with three runs in the fifth inning and made it stick.

”Guthrie was phenomenal today,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”He really executed his pitches, changing speeds, moving the ball in and out. Really did a nice job keeping them off balance.”

The Royals scored just three runs in the first two games of the season and lost both, including 1-0 in the season opener.

Greg Holland worked the ninth for his first save.

There was also a lot to like about Guthrie’s counterpart – Chicago right hander Gavin Floyd.

Floyd (0-1) gave up four hits and two runs in six innings. He walked one and struck out five.

”I thought he pitched great,” said White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham, who went 4 for 4. ”The one inning that got away from him a little bit I thought he still made good pitches and just hung a couple.”

Guthrie, meanwhile, allowed a run in the bottom of the fifth against an aggressive-swinging White Sox team that won the series’ first two games.

”Any time a team’s more aggressive you’ve got to make sure you make better quality pitches knowing they’re going to try to get that ball in play and drive it,” Guthrie said. ”So that’s kind of the case it was this whole series, they were aggressive and today was no different.”

The Royals scored three runs after the first out in the fifth. First baseman Eric Hosmer walked, advanced to third on Francoeur’s single to right on a hit-and-run and scored when center fielder Jarrod Dyson grounded out.

Francoeur advanced to second on the play and came home on Chris Getz’s single to center field and an error by Alejandro De Aza. Getz, who advanced to second base after the error, scored on Alex Gordon’s RBI single to right.

”I thought that (hit-and-run) was huge and then Getzy to follow through and drive me in it gave us a little bit of breathing room,” Francoeur said.

Yost said the outburst was encouraging.

”You know, it was good today,” he said. ”We got the hit and run, Dyson got the first run in, everybody relaxed, and boom, boom, we’ve got a three-run lead. It’s coming.”

Chicago got a run back in the bottom half. Tyler Flowers was hit by a pitch from Guthrie with two outs, advanced to third on Beckham’s second hit of the game and scored on De Aza’s single to right-center before Jeff Keppinger struck out to close the inning.

Beckham singled to right in the seventh off reliever Aaron Crow to put runners at first and second with one out. But Dyson made a running grab of De Aza’s long fly and the Royals got out of the inning when Escobar grounded to second.

Beckham got his fourth hit in the ninth, a two-out single that advanced pinch-runner Conor Gillaspie to second. But De Aza grounded to first to end the game.

Chicago had runners on first and third with just one out in the third after Beckham lined a single to right to advance Flowers. But De Aza, the leadoff batter, grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez lined a one-out double to left off Floyd in the second inning but failed to advance.

Guthrie was 5-3 in for the Royals last year following his July acquisition from Colorado. Kansas City was 10-4 in his 14 starts.

”You’ve got to tip your hat to Guthrie for what he did,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. ”He didn’t give us too many chances. When we had a chance there at first and third and he got the groundball.

Except for the struggles in the fifth, Floyd was solid. He threw 94 pitches – 66 for strikes. He was 12-10 last year, his first winning season since 2008 but fifth straight with double-digit wins.

Four Kansas City pitchers combined to strike out 11. Dayan Viciedo struck out four times and Adam Dunn struck out three.

— Associated Press —

Given all their trouble against the Royals, it’s fair to say the White Sox are enjoying this.

Adam Dunn homered and Chicago went deep four times to back a solid outing by Jake Peavy in a 5-2 victory over Kansas City on Wednesday.

Tyler Flowers, Dayan Viciedo and Alexei Ramirez also connected, and the White Sox made it two straight wins to start the season after dropping 12 of 18 to the Royals a year ago.

”I love their team,” Peavy said. ”I love their makeup. I love their manager. They have a great team. They have a great bunch of guys, and they play hard. That team is scrappy. They don’t strike out much. … It’s nice to come out (against) a team that’s had our number as a team and play well.”

The Royals, full of optimism after posting the majors’ best record in spring training, will try to avoid a season-opening sweep Thursday.

”They’re a good team,” Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. ”I don’t think they’re going to lay down.”

The White Sox have no intention of that, either. They insist they can make another run in the AL Central after finishing second to Detroit, even though they made no splashy additions while other teams in the division loaded up.

They’re off to a good start.

Peavy (1-0) allowed one earned run and four hits in six innings, striking out six and walking none. Not bad, considering he said he didn’t have his best stuff.

Even so, he managed to keep the Royals off balance on a chilly day when the game-time temperature was 43. More important, he looked about as good as he did last year, when he rebounded from all those injuries and made the All-Star team.

”I don’t wake up every day worrying about my body holding together,” Peavy said. ”But at the same time, I do a lot of preventive work to try to hold everything intact the way it is now and stay as strong as I did last year.”

Dunn had two hits and scored twice. He led off the second with his 407th home run – tying Duke Snider for 48th place on the career list – and Flowers opened the third with his second shot.

Viciedo made up for his gaffes in left field with a big swing in the fourth, hitting a two-run drive that made it 4-1. The Royals scored a run in the sixth and loaded the bases against the Chicago bullpen in the seventh, only to come away empty-handed. Ramirez got the lead back up to 5-2 with a drive leading off the bottom half off Luke Hochevar, and the White Sox hung on from there.

Peavy did his part, outpitching Ervin Santana (0-1) after Chris Sale shut down the Royals in a 1-0 victory Monday in the opener.

The three-time All-Star re-signed with Chicago after a rebound season last year and started this one on a strong note. Five relievers combined to shut down the Royals, with Addison Reed working the ninth for his second save.

Santana (0-1), a mainstay in the Angels’ rotation for eight seasons, also went six innings and gave up four runs and five hits. He struck out eight and walked one in his first start with the Royals.

”Everything was good,” Santana said. ”My off-speed was very good. My sinker was good. Fastball was good.”

Royals hitters did him no favors, going 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, and the long ball did him in.

Dunn put the White Sox ahead 1-0 with a 431-foot line drive to the seats in right-center, but the White Sox quickly gave it back.

Ramirez, the shortstop, was charged with an error even though Viciedo actually dropped Chris Getz’s pop fly in a collision with one out. Then with two out, Viciedo misplayed Alcides Escobar’s single, allowing Getz to score from first.

Flowers, who homered Monday, connected again leading off the third, and Viciedo gave them a cushion with his two-run drive in the fourth, the ball tipping a leaping Alex Gordon’s glove in left.

”I wish I could have done that over again,” Gordon said. ”I was right there in position.”

The Royals got a run off Peavy in the sixth when Gordon doubled past a diving Viciedo and scored from third on a groundout by Billy Butler, but they couldn’t come through after they loaded the bases against the White Sox bullpen in the seventh.

Donnie Veal relieved Jesse Crain with two on and one out and walked pinch hitter Miguel Tejada before retiring Gordon on a fly to shallow left. Matt Lindstrom came in and got Escobar to fly to right, ending the threat.

— Associated Press —

For all the deep breaths he took before the game, Chris Sale sure was a picture of calm once he stepped on the mound. More important for the White Sox, he was the definition of dominant.

Sale outpitched James Shields, Tyler Flowers homered and the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 1-0 in the season opener on Monday.

The White Sox believe they’re in position to make a run at the AL Central title even though they made no splashy additions while the rest of the division loaded up. They’re off to a good start after a late fade left them three games behind Detroit a year ago.

A dominant performance by Sale and Flowers’ drive leading off the fifth against Shields were just enough to beat a team that’s trying to make a big jump after finishing with a losing record 17 of the past 18 seasons. It also gave the White Sox a rare win over the Royals, who took 12 of 18 from them a year ago.

Sale was a first-round draft pick in 2010 out of Florida Gulf Coast University, whose basketball team was the darlings of this year’s NCAA men’s tournament. He said the toughest part of Monday’s game was the wait beforehand. But he watched other games and took deep breaths, trying to clear his mind.

”I tried not to hurt myself with my own thoughts,” he said.

Sale (1-0) showed the form that made him a 17-game winner and an All-Star in his first season as a starter. On a chilly day when the game-time temperature was 44, he allowed just seven hits and struck out seven while walking one.

Sale got an assist in the seventh when second baseman Gordon Beckham dived to his right to snag Lorenzo Cain’s line drive with a runner on first, and he left to a standing ovation after Alcides Escobar’s single with two outs in the eighth.

Nate Jones came in and, after Escobar stole second, threw a wild pitch while walking Billy Butler to put runners on first and third. Matt Thornton then struck out Mike Moustakas on three pitches to end the threat, and Addison Reed worked the ninth for the save.

Sale, meanwhile, backed up the White Sox’s decision to reward him with a new five-year deal this spring and the opening day start.

”I think a lot of stuff’s been thrown at him in spring training,” manager Robin Ventura said. ”He gets the contract, he gets the opening day. There’s a lot of expectations of him, but that all comes with it.”

He said Sale has ”come along great.”

And Butler was impressed: ”He’s been pitching pretty well the last year and had another really good game out there.

Shields (0-1) was a tough-luck loser even though he gave the Royals exactly what they envisioned when they acquired him from Tampa Bay. The former All-Star lasted six innings, allowing just one run and eight hits while striking out six without a walk.

Along with the addition of Ervin Santana from the Los Angeles Angels and the re-signing of Jeremy Guthrie after he dazzled in a short stint with Kansas City last season, the Royals believe they have the arms to challenge reigning division champion Detroit and make the playoffs for the first time since the 1985 championship season.

”That’s exactly what I expect,” manager Ned Yost said. ”We get further into the year and he’d go back out. That’s how good he was throwing the ball. Early, I limit them to 100 pitches. Guys like James and Santana and Guthrie take your 100 pitches and go to work.”

Chicago finally broke through when Flowers drove a high 2-2 changeup out to left-center leading off the fifth. It was his first homer since he went deep against Kansas City last Sept. 8, and it was a promising sight for the organization. After all, one reason the White Sox let A.J. Pierzynski sign with Texas was they believed Flowers was ready to become the everyday catcher.

”If every day could be like today, it’ll be fine,” Flowers said. ”I really don’t think about it much. Hopefully, in a couple weeks or a couple months, I’ll quit getting asked all these questions about A.J. and what size shoe I wear.”

— Associated Press —