Mike Moustakas had three hits and three RBIs and the Kansas City Royals roughed up Justin Verlander in a 9-8 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

Verlander, the reigning AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner, was charged with eight earned runs, matching his career high, in 5 2/3 innings. It was the third time in Verlander’s career he had surrendered eight earned runs and first since April 6, 2009, at Toronto.

Jhonny Peralta hit a tying solo homer for Detroit in the eighth, but the Royals responded in the bottom half.

Billy Butler hit a one-out single for his third hit of the game and was replaced by Lorenzo Cain, who swiped second. Salvador Perez then fouled out against Brayan Villarreal (3-4) and Phil Coke came in to face Moustakas, who doubled down the right-field line to give the Royals a 9-8 lead.

Aaron Crow (3-1) got the win despite allowing Peralta’s 10th homer and Greg Holland worked out of a jam to earn his eighth save in 10 opportunities.

Austin Jackson led off the Detroit ninth with a walk and advanced to third on a groundout and wild pitch. After Miguel Cabrera struck out and Prince Fielder was walked intentionally, Delmon Young hit Holland’s next pitch just outside the right-field pole. Tigers manager Jim Leyland wanted it reviewed and after looking at replays, it was ruled a foul ball. Young lined out to left on the next pitch.

Jackson went 3 for 3 and scored three times for the Tigers, who stayed 2 games back of the AL Central-leading White Sox. Fielder and Young each had two RBIs.

— Associated Press —

All the offseason work, rehab starts and minor league outings finally paid off for Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Matsuzaka returned from the disabled list with his best start of the season and Cody Ross drove in three runs, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 5-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday.

Starting the season on the DL after Tommy John surgery in June, Matsuzaka (1-3) earned his first big league win since May 16 of last season.

The Japanese right-hander made eight rehab starts before he rejoined the rotation in June, but went back on the DL in early July with a strained neck muscle. Then it was back to the minors for another five starts.

“I tried back in June and I didn’t get the results I wanted. I didn’t feel like I’d be able to come back strong again this season,” he said through a translator. “I went back to my final two rehab starts and threw the ball really well. I knew if I could do that up here the results would come.”

Matsuzaka gave up an unearned run and five hits, walking two and striking out six over seven innings in just his sixth start of the season.

The Red Sox took three of four in the wraparound series and won for the second time in three games since trading Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to the Dodgers on Saturday in a salary-dumping, nine-player deal.

“Obviously he’s going to get another start — two, three, four or five,” Boston manager Bobby Valentine said. “He might finish strong throwing like that.”

Jacoby Ellsbury had a solo homer and a double for Boston, which opens a nine-game West Coast trip Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Angels.

It was the first time Matsuzaka’s pitched more than six innings.

“When I had to go back on the DL in July it was very disappointing, especially when I didn’t expect my body to react the way it did,” he said. “But the encouraging part was it wasn’t my elbow. I didn’t know if I’d be able to come back strong this year, but I felt better than I did before I had Tommy John.”

The Red Sox won for just the seventh time in 19 games.

“He threw his slider inside on right-handers really well,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I mean he really executed that pitch well a number of times. So when you’re sitting, looking out, away on him and he throws that slider that starts at you and breaks back on the corner of the plate, it keeps you off-balance really well, and that’s what he did.”

Luke Hochevar (7-12) took the loss, giving up five runs and eight hits in his second complete game this season.

Boston broke a 1-1 tie on Ross’ two-run single in the third. Scott Podsednik and Dustin Pedroia each singled before Ross hit a drive high off the Green Monster, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it on Alex Gordon’s throw.

In the sixth, the Red Sox added two runs off Hochevar. Ross had an RBI double off the left-field wall. He beat Gordon’s throw, sliding into second before scoring when newly acquired James Loney singled to make it 5-1.

Loney went 1 for 4 in his second game after coming in the trade with Los Angeles.

Matsuzaka, in the final year of a six-year, $52 million contract, mostly spotted his fastball with a slider and cutter to keep the Royals hitters off balance.

He was most impressive when he worked out of a first-and-third, one-out jam in the sixth, getting Mike Moustakas swinging on a tailing 94 mph fastball to end the inning.

“He was throwing a good cutter,” Kansas City designated hitter Billy Butler said. “He was locating and had pretty good velocity on his fastball whenever he needed it.”

The Royals took advantage of an error, scoring a run without a hit to take a 1-0 lead in the first. Jarrod Dyson opened the game with a walk, stole second and advanced when second baseman Pedroia was charged with an error when he didn’t catch a somewhat high throw. Gordon followed with a sacrifice fly.

Ellsbury’s homer in the bottom half, a drive that bounced on the top of a short right-field wall and into the stands, tied it 1-all.

— Associated Press —

With a well-placed ground ball up the middle, James Loney showed he can fit in at Fenway Park — just like Chavez Ravine.

Loney hit a tying single in his Boston debut, Jacoby Ellsbury drove in the go-ahead run an inning later and the revamped Red Sox bounced back from a nine-player trade and a 12-inning loss to beat the Kansas City Royals 8-6 on Sunday.

“I’m glad I’m here. It’s one of the best atmospheres in baseball,” Loney said after getting his first AL hit in his first game following the deal that brought him to Boston. “It felt good getting that opportunity, having a chance to deliver. I just want to keep that up.”

A day after he was the only major leaguer coming to Boston in a deal that sent Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Nick Punto and more than $250 million in salary to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Loney went 1 for 5. Pedro Ciriaco had three hits, scored twice and drove in two runs for the Red Sox, who won for just the fourth time in 12 games.

Loney also made a nice pickup at first base on a short-hop throw from third baseman Ciriaco, but grounded into a rally-ending double play in the bottom half.

Pedro Beato (1-0) allowed two runs in two-plus innings but got the win on the same day he was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket. Mark Melancon pitched the ninth for his first save.

Will Smith (4-6) allowed five runs — four earned — and nine hits in five-plus innings for Kansas City.

Lorenzo Cain hit a three-run homer as the Royals scored four times with two outs in the fourth to take a 4-2 lead.

“That’s the mark of a team that battles, those two-out rallies,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I don’t know if I’d rather have bases loaded with no outs or bases loaded and two outs. We seem to score more runs. We had an opportunity to score a lot more there.”

Ciriaco hit a solo homer in the fifth, then Ellsbury singled, advanced on a grounder, stole third and scored on Loney’s single to center. Ellsbury’s RBI single in the sixth — after the first of two costly errors by shortstop Alcides Escobar — gave the Red Sox the lead.

“I’m trying to field the ball in front of me,” Escobar said. “It’s hard for me right now. I try to play hard with my defense. I know I can hit right now. I feel really bad right now, two errors in one game is bad for me.”

It was 7-4 in the seventh when the Royals loaded the bases with nobody out to chase Beato. Craig Breslow came in and struck out Johnny Giavotella before Eric Hosmer hit a sinking liner that right fielder Cody Ross lost in the sun.

He charged in, ducked, and at the last minute stabbed out his right arm to make the catch; Billy Butler scored from third to make it 7-5, but Ross, as he fell, hit the cutoff man with just enough force to keep the other runners from advancing.

Tony Abreu singled in another run, then Cain struck out looking to end the threat.

Dustin Pedroia added a solo homer in the eighth for Boston.

Boston starter Felix Doubront, who was activated from the disabled list (bruised right knee), struck out seven in five innings, but was charged with four runs and six hits. He is winless in his last five starts.

— Associated Press —

James Shields gave the Tampa Bay Rays another strong pitching performance as they make their push in the AL East.

Shields took a three-hitter into the eighth inning, leading Tampa Bay over the Kansas City Royals 5-3 on Wednesday for the Rays’ 16th win in 21 games.

Shields (12-7) retired 12 in a row after Alcides Escobar’s two-out single in the third and allowed three runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out seven and walked one, improving to 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA in his last five starts.

“I’m mixing my pitches up pretty well,” Shields said. “My delivery has been really, really well ever since the beginning of this month. My change up is back in action.”

Escobar ended Shields’ day with a two-out RBI triple in the eighth that pulled Kansas City to 4-2. Jake McGee allowed a run-scoring single to Alex Gordon, and Kyle Farnsworth retired Billy Butler on a grounder.

“Shields set the tone, again,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Our starters normally do that. Great job on his part.”

Jose Labaton homered off Aaron Crow leading off the bottom half, and Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his 39th save in 41 chances.

It was the first homer Crow allowed on the road since Boston’s Carl Crawford went deep on Aug. 21 last year at Fenway Park.

Tampa Bay won two of three in the series, limiting the Royals to just five runs. Tampa Bay leads the AL with a 3.27 ERA.

Kansas City manager Ned Yost was ejected in the eighth by plate umpire Scott Barry for arguing after Eric Hosmer took a called third strike.

“These guys have tremendous starting pitching, tremendous bullpen,” Yost said of the Rays. “It’s a team you don’t really want to come in and play because they’re coached well, they’re managed well, they play he game right and their pitching is just phenomenal. That being said, I thought we came in here and matched up pretty good in the three-game set.”

Luis Mendoza (7-9) gave up two runs, five hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings. He also hit a batter and balked.

“I struggled with my command,” Mendoza said. “I tried to pitch careful today and I put runners on base and then they got a big hit. In baseball, the base on balls hurt you.”

Jeff Francoeur’s RBI single put Kansas City ahead in the second, but the Rays took a 2-1 lead in the third on Ben Zobrist’s sacrifice fly and Jeff Keppinger’s RBI single. Ryan Roberts doubled in a run in the sixth, and the Rays made it 4-1 in the seventh on an error at second by Escobar, who couldn’t handle Francoeur’s throw from right on Zobrist’s double.

“We kind of got some there late, but we just ran out of innings,” Francoeur said. “Coming in I knew it was going to be tough series. We got one and we got close to getting one today.”

— Associated Press —

Kansas City reliever Kelvin Herrera got his first major league victory Tuesday night after Royals starter Luke Hochevar and Tampa Bay’s David Price staged a classic pitchers’ duel.

Eric Hosmer’s two-out single in the 10th inning drove in the only run in the Royals’ 1-0 victory that broke the Rays’ five-game winning streak. The run off Joel Peralta (1-5) was unearned after an error on Tampa Bay shortstop Ben Zobrist.

“We knew, the way Price has been pitching the last seven weeks, we had to have Hoch throw a game like he did, and he did,” said Jeff Francoeur, who scored the run after his single that preceded Zobrist’s throwing error. “(Hochevar) matched (Price) pitch for pitch and was better — he gave up one hit.”

Price and Hochevar both pitched eight innings, giving up a combined four hits.

Hochevar, the first overall pick in the 2006 amateur draft, gave up one hit and struck out 10.

Price, the first overall pick in 2007, gave up three hits and struck out eight. It was the second time this month Price pitched eight shutout innings without getting a win to show for it.

“You don’t see that very often anymore, not that dominant on both sides,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “You knew there wasn’t going to be much offense going into it. You were hoping you could scratch out one run, maybe two, and somebody’s going to make a mistake.”

Herrera (1-1) pitched the ninth inning and Greg Holland worked the 10th for his sixth save.

Through the first seven innings, the only player to get as far as second base was Luke Scott, who led off the Rays third with a double and advanced to third on a fly ball. It was the only hit off Hochevar. The only other Ray to reach base in the first five innings was Matt Joyce, who walked and was picked off first base by catcher Salvador Perez.

The only Kansas City runner to reach second base against Price was Hosmer on a stolen base in the eighth inning.

“I felt like tonight was probably the best command that I’ve had all year with my fastball,” said Hochevar, who shut out the Rays at Kansas City on June 25.

The right-hander wasn’t wrapped up in his personal duel with Price.

“It doesn’t matter what that guy over there is doing,” he said. “I know he’s good, and everybody knows he’s good, but that does you no good. You’ve just got to lock into what you do to win the game.”

Price, who gave up seven earned runs to the New York Mets in his most recent loss on June 13, has given up only 15 runs in 12 starts since. Those 12 starts include a franchise-record eight straight wins and a 1.56 ERA, dropping his major league-leading ERA to 2.28.

“Early on I had a lot of hard hit balls right at people, and that’s what you’ve got to have,” Price said. “When you’re going good, that’s what happens. Hochevar threw the ball extremely well again against us.”

It was the 10th win in 14 games for the Royals, who are 4-1 against Tampa Bay this season.

“Anytime you play a game like that and you lose 1-0, of course it’s no fun,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “But overall we played a really good game. We pitched great once again. You can’t be an oil painting every night, man.”

— Associated Press —

Jeremy Hellickson found success again at Tropicana Field and helped the Tampa Bay Rays stay hot.

Hellickson pitched seven strong innings for his first home win in three months and the Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Monday night.

“I thought I was really good,” Hellickson said. “Got ahead of guys. Curveball was pretty good. Just threw strikes for the most part.”

Hellickson (8-8) allowed one run and six hits in ending a stretch of seven consecutive home winless starts, dating back to a 2-1 victory over Boston on May 16.

“It all started with the pitching,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “I think (Hellickson) set the tone. He was sharp.”

Tampa Bay was coming off an 8-2 road trip that concluded with a four-game sweep over the Los Angeles Angels. The Rays had a 3.73 ERA before the All-Star break but have had 2.32 ERA since, lowering their season mark to an AL-best 3.31

Tampa Bay went ahead 4-1 in the fourth on Jose Labaton’s RBI single and a run-scoring double from Desmond Jennings off Will Smith (4-5).

Hellickson worked out of a two-on, no-out jam in the sixth. The right-hander appeared to have induced a double-play grounder from Billy Butler, but second baseman Ryan Roberts throw after recording an out at second broke through the webbing on first baseman Jeff Keppinger’s glove and wound up behind the bag. Unfazed, Hellickson then got an inning-ending double-play from the next batter, Salvador Perez.

“I’m sure that glove may have Kepp’s first first baseman’s glove,” Maddon said. “It had the old Rawlings label on it, so it was an old glove.”

Hellickson was the losing pitcher in his last start — despite allowing one run over seven innings — last Wednesday against Seattle when Felix Hernandez threw the Mariners’ first perfect game.

“I got some runs early and it’s always nice,” Hellickson said.

Tampa Bay reliever J.P. Howell worked a scoreless eighth to extend his team record scoreless streak to 25 2/3 innings. Kyle Farnsworth got the final three outs in a non-save situation.

Elliot Johnson put the Rays ahead 1-0 on a run-scoring single in the second. Jennings hit a third-inning triple and scored on Smith’s wild pitch as Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead.

Smith lasted just 3 2/3 innings, giving up four runs and eight hits. The left-hander had won his previous two starts, allowing two runs over seven innings in games against both Baltimore and Oakland.

“After the first inning, I was just bad,” Smith said. “No location, no breaking ball, which really hurt. I was falling behind too much. I just wasn’t any good. You have those days but you hate having them.”

Keppinger extended the Rays’ advantage to 5-1 with a fifth-inning solo homer.

Kansas City tied it at 1-all on Alex Gordon’s RBI infield single during the third. The Royals completed a 5-1 homestand on Sunday, which included a three-game sweep over the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox this past weekend.

“We’re playing well, but it’s a tough place to play and they’re playing very, very well,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Their starting pitching’s outstanding.”

— Associated Press —

Jeremy Guthrie was working on a no-hitter before one well-placed grounder was ruled a base hit. Then he had to settle for a no-decision.

At least his team won.

Guthrie pitched into the eighth inning in another dominant outing and Salvador Perez drove in three runs as the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2 on Sunday to complete a three-game series sweep of the AL Central leaders.

Paul Konerko reached on an infield single with two out in the seventh for Chicago’s first hit. Shortstop Alcides Escobar fielded Konerko’s grounder on the outfield grass and his one-hop throw was dropped by first baseman Eric Hosmer.

“That’s an error,” Royals right fielder Jeff Francoeur said. “That’s all you can say about it. No disrespect to Pauly, but he’s not the fastest guy in America. He’ll tell you that. To me you’ve got to flash error up right away.

“Obviously, Guthrie pitched a heckuva game. The worst part is we couldn’t get him the win because he pitched so well.”

Official scorer Del Black ruled it a hit and the Kauffman Stadium crowd of 22,401 loudly booed when the “H” was flashed on the scoreboard.

“The shortstop was on the grass,” said Black, who has been scoring Royals games since 1975. “He had to make a backhanded stop and he was off balance. It’s a tough play from that deep. He makes that play a lot, but it’s a tough play.”

The Royals are appealing Black’s ruling.

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I know this, if Hos catches that ball, Konerko is out by 15 feet. I think for the next two hitters I was so upset, I wasn’t really thinking period. I kind of reeled myself back in and got back in the ballgame. I was just glad they got a clean base hit.”

Guthrie said he was not deflated by the hit call.

“That’s a tough ground ball there,” Guthrie said. “I didn’t think Esky would get to it. When he got to it, I knew we had a shot at it and it just didn’t work out.

“It was a tough play. He played himself into the chance to get an error or an hit. It went the way the scorer scored it. If he scored it a hit, great. If he scored it an error, great. My goal was to finish out the game with zero runs.”

Konerko said he had not seen any replays of his hit.

“I didn’t see it when I hit it; I just ran,” Konerko said. “I’m the last guy to have any opinion on it. I know I’m not used to getting infield hits, so I’ll take it.”

The White Sox collected two clean hits off Guthrie in the eighth when Dayan Viciedo and Ray Olmedo singled with two outs. Yost then summoned left-hander Tim Collins to face Dewayne Wise.

Both runners scored when Wise’s hard grounder went between the legs of Hosmer and rolled to the right-field corner, tying it at 2.

The error snapped Guthrie’s scoreless streak at 22 innings, the longest by a Royal this year. Guthrie was charged with two unearned runs and three singles.

“Jeremy’s unbelievable,” catcher Perez said. “He threw the ball down every pitch. He was hitting my glove all day.”

The Royals regained the lead with three runs in the bottom half. Billy Butler led off with a walk and was replaced by Jarrod Dyson, who swiped second for his 23rd stolen base in 26 attempts and scored on Perez’s single to center off Jesse Crain (2-2).

Mike Moustakas walked and scored on a throwing error by catcher A.J. Pierzynski. Lorenzo Cain’s two-out single scored Hosmer, who reached on a walk.

Perez’s double, a high chopper down the third-base line, drove in Cain and Escobar to put the Royals in front in the sixth.

Guthrie retired the first 14 batters he faced before walking Pierzynski on a full-count offering with two outs in the fifth. Alexei Ramirez broke his bat grounding out to third baseman Moustakas to end the inning.

Greg Holland (6-3) retired the final four batters to pick up the victory.

The Royals had four hits in the second inning and failed to score. Butler led off with a single, but Perez grounded into a double play. Moustakas, Jeff Francoeur and Hosmer hit consecutive singles, but Moustakas was thrown out at the plate when he attempted to score on Hosmer’s hit.

The Royals swept a three-game series from the White Sox for the first time since 2003.

— Associated Press —

Mike Moustakas and the Kansas City Royals put on an offensive display that ruined Adam Dunn’s 400th career homer.

Moustakas hit a three-run shot, Billy Butler had three RBIs and the Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4 on Saturday night.

“We’ve very confident coming in here each day,” Butler said. “We believe in each other. We honestly believe coming in each day that we’re going to win.”

Chicago trailed 5-2 before Dunn drove a 2-2 pitch from Tim Collins over the wall in left-center in the eighth. Kevin Youkilis, who singled with one out for his 1,000th career hit, was aboard for Dunn’s major league-best 35th homer of the season.

Dunn is one of 11 active players with 400 homers and No. 50 to reach the mark overall. The burly slugger and Paul Konerko are the first teammates to reach 400 career homers in the same season.

“It’s just about the worst-case scenario, getting it like this,” Dunn said. “We’ve played two bad games. Tonight was a disaster from the get-go. Obviously, I would have wanted it to come in a win.”

Kansas City responded with four runs in the bottom half. Butler, who finished with three hits, singled in Alcides Escobar before Moustakas hit a drive to right for his 19th homer.

All four runs were charged to Brett Myers, who gave up four hits.

“A 5-4 lead is by no means a comfortable situation,” Butler said. “Nobody wants to be pitching with that tight of a lead. Sometimes you have to do it. We have to do it enough. We’ve had to win enough tight ones, so it was good to have a cruise win.”

Moustakas finished with four RBIs for the Royals, who have won four of five. Escobar had four infield singles, scored three runs and had his team-leading 24th steal.

Butler, who homered Friday, was hit by a Jake Peavy pitch in the first inning.

“I think we all know what that was,” Butler said. “I’m not going to beat around the bush on that. Maybe I did a little excessive last night. Professionals hit me below the belt and that’s the professional way to do it and move on. I felt like I won today. We’re going to leave it I professionally got back even.”

Alex Gordon also had three hits for Kansas City, including his American League-leading 39th double. Eric Hosmer contributed a solo home run in the sixth as the Royals rapped out 15 hits overall.

The White Sox committed a season-high four errors. They entered ranked second in the majors with a .988 fielding percentage. It was just their ninth multi-error game this season.

The Royals took advantage of miscues by catcher Tyler Flowers, right fielder Alex Rios and second baseman Gordon Beckham to push across two unearned runs in the third. Butler had an RBI single and scored on Moustakas’ base hit.

Bruce Chen (9-10) held the White Sox scoreless until Dunn doubled and scored on Konerko’s 20th homer in the sixth. It was Konerko’s 41st career home run against Kansas City.

Konerko has connected in back-to-back games since coming off the concussion disabled list Friday.

Chen allowed five hits, struck out five and walked one in six innings. Chen mentioned how the rotation has been pitching well in August.

“I just wanted to keep it going, not let the starting rotation down,” Chen said. “I see all these guys doing well. I say, ‘You know what, I can do that.’ You can start seeing how aggressive and how they’re pitching.”

Peavy (9-9) gave up five runs, two unearned, and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings, dropping to 0-6 with a 5.52 ERA in his past seven starts against the Royals. He is 1-5 with a 5.52 ERA in six starts at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals are 12-6 in their past 18 games.

— Associated Press —

Luis Mendoza is pitching so well the Kansas City Royals are having some fun with his unorthodox hairstyle.

Mendoza tossed seven effective innings, Salvador Perez hit a tiebreaking two-run double and the Royals rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

Lorenzo Cain and Billy Butler each hit a solo homer as Kansas City won for the third time in four games.

Mendoza (7-8), who has shoulder-length hair, allowed two runs and four hits, struck out six and walked one. The 28-year-old right-hander improved to 3-1 with a 3.58 ERA in August.

“It’s kind of like his hair,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “His streak gets a little bit longer and a little bit fluffier as time goes on. I don’t know what to say.

“What he’s doing is attacking the strike zone with good natural movement on his fastball, which is tough to center. He’s been very effective with his curveball and his changeup. You add all that up, he gets quick outs, goes deep into the games. I think we’re seeing a lot of what they saw last year in the Pacific Coast League.”

Mendoza (7-8) was the 2011 PCL pitcher of the year, but he entered this season with only six big league wins over parts of five seasons.

If Mendoza’s long hair is the secret to his success, Butler doesn’t care if he ever cuts it.

“Whatever it takes,” said Butler, who hit his 25th home run. “He can do whatever he wants if he keeps throwing like that. He’s strung quite a few starts together that have been real good. I think he’s the best pitcher on our staff right now with the stuff that he’s been throwing. He’s going deep into the game every time out.

“Mendy threw fantastic. He got into a rhythm and was just pounding the strike zone. He had a real good curveball. He’s been working on his off-speed stuff and throughout the season it has gotten a lot better.”

Paul Konerko hit a solo drive for Chicago after being activated from the seven-day concussion disabled list. It was Konerko’s first game since he was struck by a Jarrod Dyson elbow while covering first base on Aug. 7 against the Royals.

White Sox ace Chris Sale (14-4) allowed four runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings. The 6-foot-6 left-hander dropped to 11-2 with a 2.60 ERA in his last 15 starts.

Gordon Beckham hit a two-out RBI single in the fifth to give the White Sox a 2-1 lead, but Butler belted a tying solo drive in the sixth.

The Royals grabbed the lead for good in the seventh. Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar hit consecutive one-out singles to put runners on corners. Escobar then stole second when Alex Gordon struck out for the second out.

After Butler was walked intentionally, Perez fell behind in the count 1-2 before rifling a double off the fence in left.

“He’s just a big, strong guy who put his bat out there and got it,” Sale said. “You have to give him credit.”

Kelvin Herrera worked out of a jam in the eighth and Greg Holland finished for his fifth save in six opportunities.

The White Sox put runners on the corners with two down in the ninth, but Dayan Viciedo flied out to end the game.

Chicago got a scare in the first inning when a wicked Escobar one-hopper struck Sale in his pitching hand. That prompted a visit from manager Robin Ventura and a trainer, but Sale remained in the game after a couple of warmup pitches.

“At first I was a little scared, but I started moving it around and it was fine,” Sale said. “After a couple of warmup pitches it was fine.”

Royals second baseman Chris Getz broke his left thumb in the fifth inning when he was hit by a pitch while bunting foul. He is scheduled to have surgery Saturday and is done for the season.

— Associated Press —