John Danks and the Chicago White Sox are focused on catching Detroit and Cleveland in the AL Central.

Moving above .500 would be a nice start.

Danks pitched six strong innings, Brent Lillibridge hit a three-run homer and the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Sunday.

Paul Konerko added three hits for the White Sox (60-60), who have won eight of 10 to reach .500. They haven’t had a winning record since they were 7-6 on April 15.

Alexei Ramirez had two hits and scored twice as Chicago improved its abysmal home record to 26-33 and moved within four games of AL Central-leading Detroit, which lost 8-5 at Baltimore. The White Sox also won consecutive games in a single series at U.S. Cellular Field for the first time since June 21 and 22 against the Cubs.

“I think .500 is a little over blown,” Danks said. “Obviously, we didn’t expect to be .500 at this point coming into the year. We’re looking at more Cleveland and Detroit than being .500. That’s just a reality. We have to win ballgames.

“We have to finish ahead of Cleveland and Detroit. If that puts us above .500 so be it. Our focus is more on being ahead of them and being in first than being above .500.”

Danks (5-9) allowed two runs and four hits, struck out six and walked four, improving to 5-1 with a 2.29 ERA in his last nine starts. The left-hander lost his first eight decisions of the season.

“He’s got his cutter. It’s 90 miles an hour and he’s got a plus-changeup, plus-fastball and plus-cutter,” Royals designated hitter Billy Butler said. “When you’ve got that kind of stuff and it’s working, you’re going to have a tough day. We battled and got two off him, but it felt like a lot when we got two off a guy like that.”

Jeff Francis (4-13) lasted just 3 2/3 innings for Kansas City, which has lost six of seven. Top prospect Mike Moustakas went 0 for 3 and is 0 for 34 this season against Chicago.

The White Sox jumped on Francis in the first inning. Ramirez was hit by a pitch with one out and moved to third on Konerko’s single. Carlos Quentin then hit an RBI single and Lillibridge drove a 1-2 fastball over the wall in left for his 10th homer.

“He left a fastball right over the plate and I was able to get my hands through it and get it over the fence,” Lillibridge said. “It was a huge one. I hit the ball hard a lot yesterday but I couldn’t find the RBIs, it was frustrating, but keep on swinging it and it will eventually pan out. It was big one early, it put us up 4-0 and I knew that would be enough for John.”

Francis has allowed 26 runs in the first inning over his 25 starts this season.

“As long as I’ve been pitching, that’s been somewhat of an issue,” Francis said. “You try everything you can. I think if I found a reason, I probably wouldn’t be doing it.”

Danks was working on a no-hitter before Butler reached on a bad-hop single with two out in the sixth. Butler’s roller down the first-base line hopped up and past Lillibridge. Official scorer Bob Rosenberg originally ruled the play an error, but the call was quickly changed to a hit.

“There is a pretty good divot right there. There was nothing he can do about it,” Danks said. “They switched it back to a hit. I heard the boos. I don’t blame Lilli at all. That’s a tough play, there was nothing you can do about it. There was two outs, I should’ve pitched over it.”

Jeff Francoeur followed with a double down the left-field line and Mitch Maier had a two-run single to cut the White Sox lead to 6-2.

The White Sox open an important three-game series against second-place Cleveland on Tuesday. They are 6-1 against the Tribe this year.

— Associated Press —

Paul Konerko hit a two-run homer and Tyler Flowers added his first home run in the majors to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 5-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.

Konerko went deep in the third and Flowers added a solo shot in the fifth to help the White Sox snap a seven-game home losing streak. Flowers also had a single and a walk.

Juan Pierre had three singles and scored two runs for Chicago.

Jesse Crain (7-3) got the win in relief after pitching out of starter Jake Peavy’s jam in the seventh and his own in the eighth. Chris Sale got the last three outs, earning his fourth save.

Peavy allowed four runs and nine hits over 6 2-3 innings.

Luke Hochevar (8-9) took the loss, allowing eight hits and five runs in six innings.

— Associated Press —

Billy Butler and Melky Cabrera homered to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 5-1 win over the Chicago White on Friday night.

Bruce Chen continued his mastery of the White Sox, holding Chicago to one hit over six innings. Chen (7-5) is 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA in three starts against the White Sox this season.

Butler homered in the sixth and had an RBI single in the first. Cabrera broke the game open with a three-run homer in the ninth.

Alex Gordon singled, doubled, walked twice, scored a run, stole a base and reached on catcher’s interference for the Royals, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

Rookie Zach Stewart (1-2) pitched well in his home debut as a member of the White Sox. He held the Royals to two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Juan Pierre had an RBI single, driving in Chicago’s only run in the ninth, and walked twice.

Chicago’s Paul Konerko singled, extending his hitting streak to nine games, and walked twice. The White Sox had just three hits in the game but still managed to strand 10 runners.

The White Sox have lost seven straight at U.S. Cellular Field and 13 of their last 17. Chicago fell five games behind Detroit in the AL Central.

Butler’s two hits came on the heels of his 1-for-15 series at Tampa Bay. Butler has hit eight of his 14 home runs in the month since the All-Star break.

Chen walked three batters and hit two more combined in the first three innings.

Alex Rios ended both the first and third by flying out with the bases loaded. Rios, who entered the game hitting .170 in 94 at-bats with runners in scoring position, was loudly booed after each plate appearance.

After the White Sox were unable to take advantage of Chen’s early wildness, he recovered to retire the last seven batters he faced and 10 of the last 11.

Brent Morel was the only baserunner in that stretch, reaching on a double error in the fourth. Chen appeared to have struck out Morel with an 0-2 pitch was called for a quick pitch, an automatic ball.

— Associated Press —

Jeff Niemann won his sixth consecutive decision, Ben Zobrist had a two-run triple and the Tampa Bay Rays completed a four-game sweep with a 4-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday.

Niemann (7-4) allowed one run and nine hits over 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander is 6-0 in nine starts since returning from a strained lower back.

The Rays’ first four-game home sweep since July 28-31, 2005 — also against Kansas City — included an 8-7 win Wednesday night in which Tampa Bay scored five times in the ninth.

Kansas City rookie left-hander Danny Duffy (3-6) gave up three runs and five hits over seven innings.

Tampa Bay starts a key six-game road trip against New York and Boston on Friday night at Yankee Stadium. The Rays started the day 8½ games behind the AL wild-card leading Yankees and trail AL East-leading Boston by 9½ games.

Rays left-hander David Price (9-10) will face Yankees’ ace CC Sabathia (16-6) in a matchup of AL All-Stars in the opener of a three-game series.

After Joel Peralta threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings for Tampa Bay, Kyle Farnsworth pitched the ninth for his 21st save.

Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead when Zobrist drove in two runs on a third-inning triple. Desmond Jennings tripled and scored to make it 3-1 on Evan Longoria’s fifth-inning sacrifice fly.

Sean Rodriguez extended the advantage to 4-1 on an eighth-inning RBI single.

The Royals had runners on second and third with no outs in the first, but scored just one run on Eric Hosmer’s grounder. Kansas City was hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position through two innings.

Hosmer was retired on a grounder with two on and two outs in the fifth. Niemann struck out Alex Gordon with two outs and the bases loaded one inning later.

Niemann retired 10 in a row after Alcides Escobar had an infield single with one out in the second. He is 4-0 in six games, including five starts, against Kansas City.

Rays designated hitter Johnny Damon singled during the first and moved past George Davis into 65th place on the all-time hits list with 2,684.

— Associated Press —

Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon was thinking about what he could have done different as his team entered the bottom of the ninth trailing by four runs. Turned out that a big comeback made it all wasted thoughts.

Sam Fuld hit a game-tying triple and then scored on an errant throw to complete a five-run ninth as the Rays rallied to beat the Kansas City Royals 8-7 on Wednesday night.

“At that point, you start replaying (the game),” Maddon said. “We were just fortunate to get some big hits.”

Fuld hit a drive to right center off closer Joakim Soria (5-5) and wound up scoring the winning run when second baseman Johnny Giavotella was charged with an error for a bad relay throw to third.

“It was the craziest 360 feet I’ve ever run,” Fuld said. “I was exhausted.”

After Aaron Crow gave up consecutive singles in the ninth, Soria entered and gave up an RBI double to Evan Longoria, a run-scoring grounder by Ben Zobrist and Casey Kotchman’s RBI infield single before Fuld’s two-out hit. Soria has blown 7 saves in 28 opportunties this season.

“I really don’t know what to say,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said.

Salvador Perez got his first career hit, RBI and made several key defensive plays in his major league debut and Melky Cabrera homered and drove in five runs for Kansas City.

The Royals purchased the contract of the highly-regarded catcher from Triple-A Omaha. The 21-year old had a seventh-inning single in three at-bats and added a sacrifice fly. He also picked Kotchman off first during the fourth and Fuld at third in the eighth.

“He really was spectacular,” Yost said. “He had a great debut.”

Cabrera had a pair of sacrifice flys and extended the lead to 7-3 with a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth off Jake McGee (1-1).

Matt Joyce homered for the Rays. Johnny Damon singled in the ninth to tie George Davis for 65th place on the career hits list with 2,683.

Perez had a stretch starting with two outs in the fifth where he recorded seven straight putouts, coming on two strikeouts and five pop flys.

Royals starter Felipe Paulino allowed one run, three hits and four walks in five innings. He developed back stiffness running earlier this week on the artifical turf and it an impact in his outing.

“It started to tighten up in the third and then it kind of progressively got worse,” Yost said. “He’ll be fine. I don’t anticipate him missing a start.”

Kansas City went up 2-0 in the fourth on a run-scoring triple by Giavotella and Perez’s sac fly off Wade Davis. The duo are among the 15 different rookies to play for Kansas City this season.

Cabrera made it 3-0 on a fifth-inning sacrifice fly. He had another sac fly in the seventh.

Joyce, batting lead-off for the first time in place of Desmond Jennings, who was rested, cut the deficit to 3-1 with a solo shot in the fifth.

Kotchman pulled Tampa Bay within 3-2 on a sixth-inning RBI single. Joyce fouled out to Perez on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded to end the inning.

After Jennings had a one-out pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth, Perez helped preserve the 4-3 lead by picking off Fuld. Greg Holland then struck out Sean Rodriguez.

Davis gave up four runs and six hits over 6 1/3 innings.

Bill Miller joined the umpiring crew, filling in for crew chief Derryl Cousins, who missed his second consecutive game because of a personal medical issue.

— Associated Press —

James Shields has even surprised himself about going the distance this season.

Shields threw a six-hitter for his major league-best eighth complete game, Evan Longoria homered and had four RBIs and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-0 on Tuesday night.

“I didn’t think I was going to get one complete game,” Shields said. “I hadn’t had one since 2008, so I was just hoping for one this year. Fortunately, for me, it’s been a lot. I’m really, really happy with the way I’ve pitched this year and hopefully we can get a couple more here.”

Shields (11-9) also has four shutouts this year. The right-hander is 6-2 in nine career starts against Kansas City.

“James Shields, wow, pretty good stuff,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Very sharp. He had a great look. Nice tempo and finished it off strongly.”

Longoria drove in two runs on a single during the first and hit a two-run homer in the sixth. He has driven in 12 runs over his last 12 games despite having just nine hits during the stretch.

“Longo getting back on track always makes the Rays a better ballclub,” Maddon said.

Longoria has been bothered by a sore spot on his left foot this season, but Maddon said the ailment is much better.

“It seems to be behind him,” Maddon said. “He looks pretty normal now.”

Jeff Francis (4-12) gave up four runs and five hits over seven innings for the Royals. The left-hander retired 15 in a row after allowing the first three batters to reach base in the first.

“I thought Jeff pitched a great game,” Royals right fielder Jeff Francoeur said.

The game had a three-man umpiring crew because crew chief Derryl Cousins was unavailble due to a personal matter. The time of the contest was 1 hour, 53 minutes — the fastest nine-inning game in Tampa Bay history.

Longoria put the Rays ahead 2-0 with his two-run single in the first. Desmond Jennings was hit by a pitch and Johnny Damon had a bunt single, and both later scored on Longoria’s hit after a double steal.

Shields struck out eight and walked three.

Kansas City had two on and no outs in the third but failed to score when Alcides Escobar popped out on a sacrifice bunt attempt and Alex Gordon grounded into a double play.

Melky Cabrera was caught stealing at second in the fourth after Billy Butler struck out looking on a 3-2 pitch. The next batter, Eric Hosmer, walked and became the first player to steal a base this season with Shields pitching when he stole second.

Kansas City has scored just one run in losing the first two games of the four-game series. The Royals were hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position Tuesday and are 2-for-17 over the last two games.

“We had a couple chances to score, but guys like Shields, you get a guy on third and that’s when they become their best,” Francoeur said.

Damon, who entered mired in a 2-for-31 slide, had two hits in four at-bats. The designated hitter, with 2,682 career hits, moved within one of tying George Davis for 65th place on the all-time list.

— Associated Press —

Casey Kotchman had an eventful night, hitting a game-winning homer and avoiding a whip cream pie in the face from teammate Evan Longoria during a postgame celebration.

Kotchman led off the ninth inning with a home run to lift the Tampa Bay Rays to a 2-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

“I don’t get either one very often,” Kotchman said.

Kotchman drove the first pitch from Blake Wood (5-1) over the centerfield fence. He also knocked in the other Tampa Bay run with a run-scoring single that tied it in the seventh.

“How about Casey?” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Those balls were properly struck. Kotch has been hitting like that all year. It’s fun to watch.”

Kotchman, who has seven multihit outings over his last 10 games, is hitting .341 this season. The greeting he received from the welcoming committee at the plate was a blur.

“Just kind of numb,” he said.

It was Kotchman’s first walk-off hit since he had an RBI single in the Los Angeles Angels’ 2-1 victory over Texas on July 13, 2007. The first baseman has three homers over the last six games after going deep just four times in 93 games to start the season.

Rays closer Kyle Farnsworth (4-1) pitched a perfect ninth to earn the win.

Luke Hochevar allowed one run and five hits over seven innings for the Royals. The right-hander, who had won his previous three starts, had seven strikeouts and two walks.

Rays rookie Jeremy Hellickson, 3-0 in four starts during July, gave up one run and six hits in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked three.

“It was a great game,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “There was outstanding pitching from both starters.”

Tampa Bay tied it at 1 in the seventh when Ben Zobrist drew a one-out walk, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Kotchman’s single.

“Just happy to get the ‘W,” Kotchman said.

Eric Hosmer put the Royals ahead 1-0 on a first-inning RBI single. Alex Gordon, who had been hitless in his first 37 at-bats at Tropicana Field, hit a leadoff double and later scored on Hosmer’s opposite-field hit to left.

Kansas City had a runner in scoring position in four of the first six innings, but went 2 for 10 in those situations. The Royals also failed to take advantage after getting two on with one out during the eighth.

Tampa Bay had two on and one out in the second, but failed to score when Matt Joyce and Robinson Chirinos both struck out.

Hochevar induced double-play grounders in both the fourth and fifth innings.

Kansas City center fielder Melky Cabrera was in the lineup after not starting Sunday’s game because of a sprained left ankle. He went 2 for 4, including a double, and has 47 multihit games this year.

— Associated Press —

Johnny Giavotella’s debut was a dream come true.

Giavotella hit his first major league home run and doubled as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-3 on Sunday.

“It does feel surreal,” Giavotella said. “This weekend has been almost magical. Everything I wanted to accomplish in baseball, it’s come true this weekend. To have my family here watching me, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Giavotella, who was promoted Friday after hitting .338 in 110 games with Triple-A Omaha, is 5 for 11 (.455) with a .909 slugging percentage in his first three games

“He’s a little sparkplug,” said Alex Gordon, who set a single-season club record with his 18th outfield assist in the fourth inning. “He’s a little guy, but has lot of energy. He was hitting down in Triple-A. He didn’t really change when he got up here.”

Giavotella faced Rick Porcello, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.

“He’s facing three solid pitchers,” Gordon said. “That was a pretty impressive for his first series.”

Giavotella led off the three-run fourth with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Billy Butler groundout. Mitch Maier’s triple scored Eric Hosmer, who singled. Brayan Pena’s two-out single brought home Maier.

Giavotella homered to left on a 2-1 pitch from Scherzer in the fifth.

“It was an unbelievable feeling and a feeling I’ll never forget,” Giavotella said. “Scherzer was trying to come in on me all day. He was banging me inside and I couldn’t get my hands extended. I guess he missed over the plate that time and I got my hands inside and barreled it up and it flew out of the park.”

Royals left-hander Bruce Chen (6-5) gave up three runs on five hits in five-plus innings, while striking out five — three in the first inning — and no walks to pick up his first victory since July 6. He allowed three hits to start the three-run sixth, when there was a 46 minute rain delay. Rookie right-hander Louis Coleman replaced Chen after play resumed.

“Bruce did a phenomenal job the first five innings and then that storm blew in and stuff was blowing everywhere,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “You would think that would be to the pitcher’s advantage, but they somehow put together three hits and then the downpour. Somebody said one guy swung threw a napkin and got a hit. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Scherzer (11-7), who like Chen did not return after the rain delay, yielded four runs on six hits in five innings. Scherzer was 3-0 with a 0.89 ERA in his previous three starts against Kansas City.

“It was one of those outings where I got out there and fell behind and made some mistakes and they made me pay for it,” Scherzer said. “And then there were some pitches where I was able to locate it but they were able to hit it.”

The Tigers trimmed the lead to a run in the fifth with Andy Dirks, Austin Jackson and Miguel Cabrera contributing RBI doubles.

Joakim Soria worked the ninth for his 21st save in 27 opportunities.

Gordon was credited with hit 18th outfield assist in the fourth inning when Cabrera was out 7-6-4 trying to stretch a single into a double. Jermaine Dye in 2001, and Mark Teahen in 2007, shared the record with 17 outfield assists.

“That play was really (Alcides) Escobar,” Gordon said. “I threw it off the line a little bit and Escobar made a great play. He’s been doing that all year. You’ve got to give him credit, too.”

Royals right-fielder Jeff Francoeur threw out Jhonny Peralta, who attempted to go from first to third on Alex Avila’s single in the seventh, giving the Royals’ outfielders 40 assists, which tops the majors. Francoeur leads all big league outfielders with 93 assists since he debuted in 2005.

— Associated Press —

Justin Verlander watched helplessly as his first pitch went sailing toward the outfield wall. The Tigers’ ace could see Austin Jackson tracking it from the moment it left Alex Gordon’s bat, but Verlander wasn’t sure the speedy center fielder could get to it.

Jackson leaped — and came back down with a 409-foot out.

Bailed out by his defense in the first inning, Verlander returned the favor in the seventh. He pitched out of trouble brought on by an error to preserve a one-run lead over the Kansas City Royals, and Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde finished off the 4-3 victory Saturday night.

Verlander (16-5) won his fifth straight start and moved into a tie with New York Yankees lefty CC Sabathia for the major league lead in victories. The right-hander also improved to 13-2 in his career against Kansas City.

“At first I didn’t know if I was going to make it back there to get it,” Jackson said of his leaping grab. “It kept going and I was getting to the track and trying to time my steps right. I was able to get back to it.”

It was the Royals’ best scoring opportunity until Jeff Francoeur’s solo homer in the fifth.

“Talk about a catch,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “That could be the best catch I’ve seen all year. I didn’t think he would get over there and then to time his leap at the last second to catch it above the wall.”

Victor Martinez drove in two runs for Detroit before leaving late with a left knee sprain. He will be evaluated again Sunday, but manager Jim Leyland doesn’t think it’s serious.

The Tigers built a 4-1 lead by the seventh when their defense gave Kansas City hope.

Ryan Raburn had just moved from third base to right field to start the inning. Eric Hosmer singled with one out and Francoeur doubled down the right-field line. Raburn’s throw overshot second base by a wide margin, allowing Hosmer to score, and weak-hitting Brayan Pena’s two-out double moments later drew Kansas City within 4-3.

The unflappable Verlander bounced back to get Alcides Escobar on a weak foul popup down the third-base line, preserving the Tigers’ one-run lead. Escobar promptly spiked his bat in frustration.

“I didn’t have great control of my curveball. I was kind of able to get a little feel in the fourth, fifth, sixth inning,” Verlander said. “A couple hits in the seventh, one big hit by Pena, and next thing I know the tying run is on second base. Luckily I was able to get through it with the lead.”

Verlander wound up allowing five hits in seven innings while striking out eight. Valverde handled the ninth for his 32nd straight save to start the season, matching the club record set by AL MVP Willie Hernandez in 1984.

Miguel Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez also had RBIs for Detroit.

Danny Duffy (3-4) allowed three runs and five hits for Kansas City, but he was done in again by his pitch count. The rookie left-hander needed a career-high 105 to get through five innings, 30 more pitches than Verlander needed to get through the same point in the game.

“I didn’t have very good command,” Duffy said. “I didn’t do my job. I didn’t locate very well. I was really frustrated. I’m really frustrated with myself right now. I didn’t keep my team in the game.

“They battled back,” he said, “but by no means did I give us a chance to win.”

Detroit got its first two runs in the first inning, when Duffy issued back-to-back one-out walks and Cabrera followed with a double to right. The shaky start brought pitching coach Bob McClure to the mound, but it sure didn’t do much good. Martinez lined the very next pitch up the middle for an RBI single.

The Tigers made it 3-0 in the third when Cabrera doubled and Martinez singled, then answered Francoeur’s homer in the seventh. Alex Avila singled off Blake Wood, and Jackson reached first base when Wood threw the ball away on a soft grounder to the mound. Brennan Boesch moved the runners up and Ordonez hit an RBI groundout.

“It’s very important to get the runs for starting pitchers like Verlander,” Cabrera said. “When they get run support they feel a lot of confidence. And we got another one in the seventh. That really helped the bullpen.”

— Associated Press —

Brennan Boesch came through too late for Rick Porcello. His hit came just in time for the Detroit Tigers, though.

Boesch hit a go-ahead RBI single in the 10th inning to give the Tigers a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

“I just didn’t want to do too much,” Boesch said. “I just wanted to make sure I was under control and just try to play pepper back up the middle. I wanted to do that.”

The Tigers extended their lead in the AL Central to four games over the Cleveland Indians, who lost in extra innings around the same time the Tigers were winning.

Porcello, who had won his previous five starts, took a 3-0 lead into the seventh.

“Every time he goes out there now, we really feel we’re going to win,” Boesch said. “He’s really been pitching well. He’s been growing all season long, getting better as the year goes on. That’s what we need from him. He’s stepping up big.

Wilson Betemit led off the 10th with a walk and pinch-runner Andy Dirks took second on a wild pitch by Aaron Crow (3-3) with one out.

Daniel Schlereth (1-1) worked two scoreless innings and Jose Valverde pitched the bottom of the 10th for his 31st straight save.

Manager Jim Leyland pulled Porcello after he gave up a run on three singles with one out in the seventh.

“I feel bad for Rick,” Leyland said. “He deserved to get a win. He was fantastic. I’m sorry he didn’t get a win.”

Austin Jackson and Boesch opened the game with back-to-back triples in the Tigers’ two-run first inning. Alex Avila tacked on a solo homer in the fifth.

Johnny Giavotella made his debut for the Royals and hit an RBI single before scoring the tying run on Alcides Escobar’s single in the seventh.

Royals starter Felipe Paulino gave up three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking two.

Porcello had a string of wins in five straight starts snapped. He left with one out in the seventh after giving up Giavotella’s RBI single.

Phil Coke came on, gave up an RBI single to Mike Moustakas and left. David Pauley gave up Escobar’s tying hit to center field.

“The team got the win and that’s the biggest thing,” Porcello said. “Obviously, it’s nice for yourself personally to get a win, but we got the win and started the series off to a good start. That’s the bottom line, the most important thing. I definitely had plenty left in tank. The skipper wanted to go with a lefty-lefty matchup. That’s his call.”

Giavotella went 2-for-3 in his big league debut, with a double, a walk a steal and a run in addition to his RBI single.

“I had some jitters coming into the game, some butterflies here and there, but after that first ground ball I calmed down and felt comfortable out there,” Giavotella said. “On the double, I looked up into the stands and saw my dad. He gave a little fist pump and I gave one back to him. It was a nice moment.”

— Associated Press —