MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins were a little frustrated after their first seven games, having played about as poorly as possible.

Hitting the ball over the wall was a good way to bounce back.

Kennys Vargas and Kurt Suzuki each hit a two-run homer Thursday, powering the Twins past the Kansas City Royals 8-5 for their first series win this season.

“We have some guys that can hit the ball over the fence,” manager Paul Molitor said. “We all know Target Field can be a challenge in that regard compared to some of the other parks, but we want to have a mixture: guys that hit for average, guys that can run the bases and we always welcome hitting them over the fence.”

Lorenzo Cain put the Royals in front with his two-run shot in the first inning, but starter Jason Vargas (1-1) was shelled. He gave up 10 hits and a walk, failing to get an out in the fourth and leaving with a 5-3 deficit.

Minnesota’s Vargas sure had his Kansas City foe, no relation, figured out. The burly switch-hitter hit a line drive in the second off the ribbon scoreboard that serves as the facade of the second deck above left field to tie the game.

“You have to tip your cap. You miss inside, and he’s still able turn on it and keep it fair,” Jason Vargas said. “After that they were just able to bleed us out.”

With Oswaldo Arcia’s two-run home run Wednesday, the Twins went deep three times in two days after hitting only two homers in their first seven games. They’re still last in the American League, but the productive swings by Vargas were a good sign.

In the third inning, two batters after a groundout gave Joe Mauer the first of his three RBIs, Kennys Vargas crushed a full-count changeup to the left-center gap that Cain grabbed with a smooth lunging catch to limit the damage.

Vargas has 10 career home runs, but this was only his second as a right-hander. That’s his natural side, but he has so far displayed more power hitting left. Vargas played first base Thursday for the first time this season.

“It’s a little bit different, but it’s my job,” Vargas said.

Tommy Milone (2-0) did his job, despite the rough start, by logging 5 1/3 innings and keeping the lead.

Cain went 3 for 4 with three runs and three RBIs and Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez each had two hits for the Royals, but Milone minimized their threats.

He allowed seven hits and three walks before ceding to five relievers. Brian Duensing gave up two runs in a rocky start to the ninth, but Glen Perkins got the last two outs for his second save.

The season-high 14 hits sure came in handy. Five Twins had two or more hits, including Torii Hunter who went 3 for 5. The Twins even spoiled the perfect run by the Royals bullpen, after 23 1/3 scoreless innings to start the season.

“The guys had my back today, especially scoring right after they scored in the first inning. You kind of get that breath of fresh air to go back out there,” Milone said.

CAIN DO

Cain has two homers this year, after going deep only 17 times in 358 major league games entering the season. With his speed, brilliant defense and batting average that’s up to .429, the MVP of the American League championship series has fast become one of Kansas City’s most indispensable players.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Christian Colon gave Omar Infante his first break at second base, but Perez remained in the lineup at catcher for the ninth straight time despite the afternoon start following the night game. Manager Ned Yost said he wanted Perez’s hitting potential on a day with Alex Gordon resting and Alex Rios out indefinitely. Yost said Perez could get a day off this weekend.

Twins: Casey Fien has showed no lingering effects of the shoulder stiffness that limited him to one inning over the first seven games. After pitching a perfect eighth Wednesday, the right-hander was sharp again with a four-up, four-down performance with a tidy 13 pitches.

UP NEXT

The Royals will return home for a three-game series against Oakland starting Friday. Left-hander Jeremy Guthrie is scheduled to pitch for the Royals, after winning his season debut while completing seven innings on the road against the Los Angeles Angels. Right-hander Sonny Gray will start for the Athletics.

The Twins will host Cleveland for a three-game series beginning Friday, when AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber pitches for the Indians and Mike Pelfrey takes the mound for the Twins. Pelfrey’s last start at Target Field was nearly a year ago, on May 1.

— Associated Press —

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kansas City became the last team in the majors to lose this season, as Kyle Gibson pitched into the seventh inning and Oswaldo Arcia hit a two-run homer for the Minnesota Twins in a 3-1 victory over the Royals on Wednesday night.

The Royals (7-1) were chasing the 2003 team’s 9-0 start as the best in franchise history, but Gibson (1-1) used 12 groundball outs and three strikeouts to keep the highest-scoring team in the majors quiet for a night.

The Twins (2-6) went 1-8 to begin the 1994 season, the only other time in the club’s 55-year history they started with seven losses in their first eight games. Glen Perkins pitched a perfect ninth for his first save.

Edinson Volquez (1-1) struck out seven in 7 2/3 innings, with five hits and one walk allowed. He loaded the bases with no outs in the first, but he escaped with only Brian Dozier’s sacrifice fly as the damage.

Arcia’s two-strike, two-out drive into the seats above right-center field in the fourth, though, hurt Volquez. Trevor Plouffe’s single came right before that.

Lorenzo Cain bounced into a double play after consecutive singles to start the game, and Salvador Perez grounded into an inning-ending turn-two by the Twins in the second. Alcides Escobar had three of the nine hits against Gibson and Alex Gordon drove in a run with a two-out single in the fourth inning, but the right-hander didn’t walk anybody after issuing five free passes in his first start.

Gibson, who failed to finish the fourth at Detroit last week, improved to 4-0 in four career starts with a 1.38 ERA against Kansas City.

Manager Ned Yost decided to keep Cain in center field and replace Alex Rios in right field with Jarrod Dyson, only the second bench player to appear in a game so far for the Royals along with Paulo Orlando. Outfielder Terrance Gore was recalled from Double-A Northwest Arkansas for depth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Rios said he wasn’t surprised by the diagnosis, considering how hard the pitch was and the placement of his hand against the knob of the bat. He passed a strength test on his hand, one encouraging sign for a recovery that could take about a month.

“I’m going to do my best to do what I can to shorten up the time. It’s going to depend on the bone itself, but I’m going to work on everything that I can to help the healing process a little more,” he said.

Twins: Right-hander Ricky Nolasco, seven days into his stint on the 15-day disabled list, was cleared for some long toss to test his inflamed elbow. “So far so good,” general manager Terry Ryan said, asked whether Nolasco could be ready after the 15-day minimum. “Whether it’s 15, if it’s 18 or if it’s 20, we just want to make sure he’s right.”

UP NEXT

The Royals will send left-hander Jason Vargas to the mound for the series finale on Thursday afternoon to face Twins left-hander Tommy Milone.

— Associated Press —

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Kansas City right fielder Alex Rios is out indefinitely after suffering a broken bone in his left hand when he was hit by a pitch in Minnesota earlier this week.

The team said Tuesday that Rios has a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal in his left hand. He was hit by J.R. Graham’s first pitch in the eighth. He eventually scored but was removed as a precaution in the bottom of the inning and sent for X-rays.

The team said no timetable has been set in terms of his return.

Rios was batting .321 with eight RBIs and a home run through Kansas City’s 7-0 start to the season.

— Associated Press —

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kansas City has picked up right where it left off. Behind some torrid hitting and an impenetrable bullpen, the Royals are the only unbeaten team left in the majors.

Danny Duffy pitched into the seventh inning and Kendrys Morales homered in a 12-3 romp over the Minnesota Twins on Monday, moving the defending AL champions to 7-0 for the second-best start in Kansas City’s history behind the 2003 club that won nine in a row to begin the season.

“There’s a great mix here of young and veteran players that feed off each other,” Morales said. “The young players got a lot of energy, which helps the experienced players. It’s a real good clubhouse.”

Detroit was the only other undefeated team left until a 5-4 loss at Pittsburgh earlier in the day.

Duffy (1-0) went 6 1/3 innings, giving up three runs. He is 4-1 with a 2.37 ERA in his career against the Twins and is undefeated in four starts at Target Field.

“It’s a long season,” Duffy said. “Obviously you hear that every day, but we’re just kind of keeping it all in front of us.”

The Twins were better off with a put-it-all-behind-them approach.

“We didn’t play Twins baseball. I don’t know what we played. Bad News Bears baseball, I guess,” right fielder Torii Hunter said. “Just got to do better.”

The Twins lost their fourth straight home opener, though they still packed the place with an over-capacity crowd of 40,123 on a 61-degree day. Hunter tipped his helmet to acknowledge the standing ovation during his first at-bat, but the cheers were scant the rest of the afternoon.

The Twins used four pitchers in a six-run eighth by the Royals, who did their damage on only two singles to accompany three walks, two hit batters, an error and a passed ball. Shortstop Danny Santana let a bases-loaded grounder bounce out of his glove with no outs.

Hunter was charged with a throwing error in the sixth, too, letting a run score. New manager Paul Molitor has so far had his hands full.

“We’re trying to find a way to put an offense together that’s a little more consistent. So far it really hasn’t clicked too well,” Molitor said.

The Royals have sure been rolling. Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain on his 29th birthday and Eric Hosmer each drove in two runs for Kansas City, which had five players tally two hits apiece. Manager Ned Yost was asked afterward what has stood out from his team’s strong start.

“Their energy. Their focus. Their intensity,” Yost said. “They’re just a real confident group.”

The bullpen hasn’t been scored on yet, either, with 21 strikeouts in 19 innings.

POWER SURGE

Morales, who failed to hit a home run in 67 plate appearances at Target Field during his stint with the Twins last summer, sent an 0-1 pitch from Trevor May (0-1) in the second inning into the upper deck above right-center field.

The scary part for the rest of the league is that the Royals, last in the majors in home runs last season, have gone deep 10 times already. Salvador Perez has nine RBIs and Alex Rios and Cain each have eight. The Twins have 14 total RBIs; no one has more than two.

NO REST YET

One of Yost’s stated priorities this season was to limit Perez’s workload, after the All-Star catcher’s production waned during the playoffs last year. He hasn’t had a day off yet, along with every other regular but left fielder Alex Gordon.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Rios was hit on the left hand by J.R. Graham’s first pitch in the eighth. He eventually scored but was removed as a precaution in the bottom of the inning and sent for X-rays. Yost said he was encouraged by the strength test Rios took and believed he would be all right.

Twins: RHP Casey Fien, who has logged only one inning this season because of shoulder stiffness, was available to pitch.

UP NEXT

There is no game Tuesday, with the series resuming Wednesday night.

Edinson Volquez will take the mound, looking to match a sparkling debut with the Royals. The right-hander has faced the Twins only once, in 2007 when Joe Mauer homered against him in a no-decision at the Metrodome.

Kyle Gibson will start for the Twins, coming off a rough first turn at Detroit. Gibson has beaten the Royals more than any other team, carrying a 3-0 record and 1.40 ERA in three starts against them.

— Associated Press —

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals completed another three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels. Unlike last October, there was no champagne sprayed in the clubhouse — just a fervent resolve to prove that last year’s trip to the World Series wasn’t a fluke.

Alcides Escobar and Alex Rios hit two-run doubles, Salvador Perez homered and the defending AL champions extended their season-opening win streak to six games with a 9-2 victory on Sunday.

“To start the year the way that we have is exciting and it’s fun to see. You just keep it going for as long as you can,” manager Ned Yost said. “Over the course of 162 games, it’s hard to maintain over long stretches. But we’re firing on all cylinders right now in all phases of our game.

“We’re hitting in the clutch and we’re hitting for power. Our defense again today was fantastic, so was the starting pitching, and our bullpen came in and did a great job. To come in here and play as well as we did against them was encouraging.”

The winning streak is the Royals’ second-longest to open a season. They won their first nine in 2003 under first-year manager Tony Pena, but finished only four games over .500 and third in the AL Central.

The Royals and Detroit are the only unbeaten teams left in the majors.

“We’re just playing good baseball as a team,” third baseman Mike Moustakas said. “Everyone is doing their job, no one’s trying to do too much, and we’ve been finding ways to win.”

“Everything’s rolling pretty good for us right now,” he said.

Albert Pujols hit his 522nd home run, moving past Ted Williams, Willie McCovey and Frank Thomas for sole possession of 18th on the career list. The solo drive off Royals ace Yordano Ventura (2-0) landed in the lower seats in the left-field corner.

“Obviously, it’s a great accomplishment, man, but it’s really disappointing,” Pujols said. “We got swept by a great ballclub. I’ve told you guys my whole career, that at the end of my career I’m going to enjoy it a little bit more. But when I’m playing baseball, my goal is to try to help this ballclub to win.”

Ventura, coming off a 10-1 win at Chicago in which he left in the seventh after 81 pitches because of a cramp in his thumb, allowed two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings Sunday before coming out with another cramp — this one in his right calf.

After Pujols’ homer, Ventura didn’t allow another hit until Mike Trout’s one-out single in the sixth. Moments later, Trout slid across the plate on Pujols’ double, which center fielder Lorenzo Cain bobbled for the Royals’ first error of the season.

Ventura, who was backing up home plate on the play, had some words with Trout. Both dugouts and bullpens emptied, but no punches were thrown.

“I was just playing my game,” Trout said. “I just got a base hit, I got to first base and he was staring at me. I didn’t think I did anything wrong — and then he got in my face. I’m not trying to get in any fights or anything, and I’m just trying to play baseball.”

Yost, understandably, defended his pitcher.

“He pitches with a lot of emotion. He’s a real intense competitor, and he got fired up there,” Yost said.

C.J. Wilson (1-1) allowed seven runs — six earned — and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings after pitching eight innings of two-hit ball in a 2-0 victory at Seattle last Tuesday. He took the loss in the finale of last year’s AL Division Series, which completed the Royals’ three-game sweep.

“We were able to put some good swings against him in that playoff game, but he’s a good pitcher and he definitely made some adjustments against us today,” Moustakas said. “We had a report on him that said he was throwing a lot of fastballs, going at guys and getting a lot of first-pitch swings, so we tried to get a good pitch to hit early in the count and get a knock.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels: RF Kole Calhoun, who homered and drove in three runs in Saturday night’s 6-4 loss, got the day off to rest a sore calf. “His calf is a little bit tight, so we’re just going to take a precautionary day,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “He’s been nursing it for a couple of days, and we just don’t want it to go in the wrong direction right now.”

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy makes his second start of the season in the opener of a three-game series at Minnesota, after giving up five runs over five innings last Wednesday in a no-decision at Chicago.

Angels: RHP Matt Shoemaker, coming off a 5-3 victory at Seattle in which he allowed three runs over six innings, makes his second start of the season on Monday at Texas. He is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three career starts against the Rangers.

— Associated Press —

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Kendrys Morales homered, Lorenzo Cain drove in two runs and the Kansas City Royals remained unbeaten with a 4-2 victory over Los Angeles on Friday night in the Angels’ home opener.

Eric Hosmer drove in an early run and Jason Vargas pitched six solid innings against his former team for the defending AL champion Royals. They followed up their season-opening sweep of the White Sox with a win in the same ballpark where they won the first two games of last October’s AL Division Series.

David Freese homered and Kole Calhoun had an early RBI double for the Angels, who have lost their last three home openers.

Vargas (1-0) yielded five hits and two runs over six innings.

Wade Davis pitched the ninth for his first save.

Hector Santiago (0-1) gave up six hits and three runs while pitching into the sixth.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Edinson Volquez must have gotten tired from all the times he tipped his cap.

He certainly didn’t labor much on the mound.

Volquez dazzled over eight innings in his Royals debut, and Kansas City’s defense made a series of spectacular plays behind him in a 4-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday that finish off a season-opening three-game sweep.

“Unbelievable,” said Volquez, who allowed one run on four hits in his first start since signing a $20 million, two-year deal with the Royals in the offseason. “We have the best defense in baseball right now. It gives you a lot of confidence.”

Lorenzo Cain made two dramatic catches while running into the center field wall. Third baseman Mike Moustakas made a diving snare of a hot ground ball. And second baseman Omar Infante snared a line drive before turning an inning-ending double play.

“We got some great defensive plays,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Some great offense, too. Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer, and Cain and Kendrys Morales also drove in runs, helping the AL champions improve to 3-0 for the first time since a season-opening sweep of Detroit in 2008.

Greg Holland worked a perfect ninth for his second save in less than 24 hours.

“That’s what they are known for, playing small ball, bunting guys over, playing great defense,” White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton said. “They play the game hard. They’re stealing bags. Lorenzo Cain making plays. Perez is throwing guys out. They’re a solid team.”

Meanwhile, the Royals pounded Chicago’s John Danks (0-1), who had been 7-0 against them. He allowed all four runs on seven hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings.

“There are things we certainly need to do better,” he said. “That’s just the way it’s going to be. We have too much talent in here to keep playing like this, but we’ll be better.”

The White Sox were swept in an opening series for the first time since 2004, and head into their home opener against Minnesota after losing to the Royals for the 14th time in 17 games.

“There’s no freaking out here,” Eaton said, “just a little frustration right now.”

The Royals took the lead on Cain’s RBI groundout in the first, but it was his two dazzling plays in center that will make highlight reels. First, Cain collided with the wall at full speed to rob Adam LaRoche of a leadoff hit in the second. Then, he backed into the wall to catch a long fly ball by Micah Johnson that ended the third.

Morales added an RBI double off Danks in the sixth inning, and Perez chased the left-hander a couple of batters later when he sent a full-count pitch into the bullpen in left field.

It was the sixth homer of the series for the Royals, who needed 15 games to hit their first six last season. They went on to finish last in the majors in home runs.

“If somebody would say, `Boy, you’re firing on all cylinders,’ I’d have to agree,” Yost said. “To get off to this type of start is exciting and fun, and you just have to ride it as long as you can.”

PAULO’S DEBUT

Royals LF Paul Orlando started in place of Alex Gordon, who got a planned day off. After spending 10 years in the minors, the Brazilian made the most of it. He walked in the third inning and then hit a leadoff triple in the fifth.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

The game was delayed nearly 5 minutes in the first inning when Kauffman Stadium’s phone system went down. With no communication to their replay officials, the managers would have had to challenge plays only on their own observations. Service was restored in the third inning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: LHP Chris Sale (broken right foot) is expected to start Sunday against the Twins.

Royals: RHP Luke Hochevar (Tommy John surgery) began a rehab assignment Thursday with Triple-A Omaha at New Orleans. The hard-throwing reliever missed all of last season.

UP NEXT

White Sox: RHP Hector Noesi, claimed by Chicago off waivers last season, will start his club’s home opener Friday afternoon against Minnesota.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas faces his former team Friday night when Kansas City opens a six-game road trip with the first of three games against the Angels.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lorenzo Cain made the Chicago White Sox pay after being hit by two pitches in the first two games of the series.

Cain, who was hit by a pitch in the first inning, had a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth for his third hit and the Kansas City Royals beat the White Sox 7-5 Wednesday night.

Cain homered off Zach Putnam (0-1), the fourth White Sox pitcher, after Alcides Escobar led off the inning with a single for his third hit.

“You can only hit a guy so many times before trouble develops,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I can’t judge intent on either side, but guys can only stand for a guy getting hitting so much. Two times in two nights is getting to be little too much for Lorenzo.”

Cain had words with White Sox starter Jeff Samardzija, who hit him with a pitch in the fifth inning Monday. So this home run made it even sweeter.

“It’s really nice,” Cain said. “This series has definitely been intense, a battle between us and the White Sox. To hit a home run at that time of the game definitely was a good feeling.”

Wade Davis (1-0) struck out two in a scoreless eighth. Greg Holland, who had 46 saves last year, worked the ninth for his first save. Royals relievers Jason Frasor, Kelvin Herrera, Davis and Holland combined for four scoreless innings, striking out five, after Danny Duffy exited.

Eric Hosmer hit a three-run homer in the third for the Royals. Hosmer homered after Mike Moustakas was hit by a pitch and Cain singled.

“It doesn’t take much to fire us up,” Hosmer said of the White Sox plucking four Royals batters in the first 11 innings of the series.

“We’re a young energetic group. We feed off different stuff like that, whether it’s the crowd or something on the field like that,” he added.

Both teams were issued a warning by plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt.

Tyler Flowers homered with two outs in the second with Adam LaRoche and Gordon Beckham aboard to give the White Sox a 3-1 lead.

White Sox starter Jose Quintana yielded five runs on nine hits, a walk and two hit batters. Duffy went five-plus innings, permitting five runs on eight hits.

“They have a pretty good lineup,” Quintana said. “They had a lot of contact. It was one pitch, Hosmer’s home run, it changed my game.”

The White Sox have lost 13 of their past 16 games to the Royals and have been outscored 86-43.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: LHP Chris Sale, who broke his right foot in spring training, said he is set to start Sunday against the Twins. “I was hurt. I’m not hurt anymore,” Sale said. “I think it’s time to take blinders off and run the race.” … White Sox RHP Jake Petricka, who is on the disabled list with an upper back strain, threw a bullpen session on the Tuesday off day and could come off the disabled list next week.

Royals: LF Alex Gordon, who has right wrist surgery in December, will likely be rested Thursday. Manager Ned Yost said Gordon experienced wrist soreness in spring training when he played a day game after a night game and “we sat him three days” after that. Yost said rookie OF Paulo Orlando would start in left.

SPEEDY PEREZ

Royals catcher Salvador Perez swiped second base on a delayed steal in the fifth inning. It was his second career stolen base. The other was April 4, 2014, also against the White Sox.

BECKHAM’S MILESTONE

Beckham’s fourth-inning single brought his total bases to 1,000 on 654 hits.

UP NEXT

White Sox: LHP John Danks is 7-0 with a 2.43 ERA in 16 career starts against the Royals. He is 4-0 with a 1.73 ERA in 10 career outings at Kauffman Stadium.

Royals: RHP Edinson Volquez makes his KC debut after signing as a free agent on December 29.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — For one unsettling moment, it appeared opening day had taken a terrible turn for Yordano Ventura and the Kansas City Royals.

Ventura crumpled to the ground in the seventh inning with a cramp in his right thumb, ending a strong outing that helped the AL champion Royals rout the Chicago White Sox 10-1 on Monday.

“I felt the thumb lock up on me,” Ventura said, with teammate Jeremy Guthrie translating. “My first thought, it was something really bad, but I’m really happy that it’s not. I’m not concerned about it at all. It’s just a cramp, though, but it surprised me.”

Alex Rios had a three-run homer among his three hits in his Kansas City debut, and Ventura pitched six-plus solid innings. He went down after throwing a strike to Adam LaRoche and was replaced by Kelvin Herrera.

Ventura will be evaluated later this week, but Royals manager Ned Yost said he does not anticipate the hard-throwing righty missing a start. Just days ago, Ventura agreed to a $23 million, five-year contract.

Rios homered in a five-run seventh with Kendrys Morales and Alex Gordon aboard. Gordon stroked a two-run single in the inning.

“I was trying to put a good swing on the ball and when you do that good things happen,” Rios said.

Jose Abreu homered in the seventh for Chicago.

White Sox right-hander Jeff Samardzija, who did not allow a run in 15 innings during a pair of opening-day starts with the Chicago Cubs the past two years, yielded five runs and six hits in six-plus innings. He walked three, hit two batters with pitches and threw a wild pitch.

After an exhilarating postseason run last year that ended with a Game 7 loss to San Francisco in the World Series, the Royals got off to a fast start in 2015.

Alcides Escobar and Mike Moustakas, their first two hitters, went a combined 4 for 7 with two walks and scored five runs. Moustakas homered the opposite way in the fifth off Samardzija.

“The numbers don’t matter,” Moustakas said. “We just find a way to win and at the end of the day the numbers will be there.”

Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless ninth for the Royals, his first big league appearance since Sept. 28, 2011.

“We had some opportunities early (and) we couldn’t capitalize on any of them,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “You’ve got to get better at that. I’m not going to say that it’s the whole season, but you want to get off to a good start. We didn’t. You just have to come back out on Wednesday and get back after it.”

DROUGHT IS OVER

The Royals won their season opener for the first time in seven years. Their previous opening-day victory was March 31, 2008, at Detroit.

THAT WAS QUICK

White Sox rookie second baseman Micah Johnson singled in the sixth for his first major league hit. Moments later, Ventura picked him off first.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: LHP Chris Sale, who broke his right foot Feb. 27, struck out seven and allowed a run on three hits in seven innings during a minor league game in Arizona. Sale is on target to come off the disabled list Sunday and start against Minnesota.

Royals: Gordon, who was limited to 10 exhibition games and hit just .200 in 35 at-bats following right wrist surgery in December, might be given periodic rests early in the season.

UP NEXT

White Sox: LHP Jose Quintana is 0-6 in 12 career starts against the Royals.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy, who starts Wednesday, has not faced the White Sox since 2011 at Kansas City.

— Associated Press —