Kansas City, MO – Kevin Youkilis hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the top of the 14th inning and the White Sox outlasted the Royals, 9-8, in the opener of a three-game series.
A walk to Gordon Beckham and a single by Alejandro De Aza placed runners at the corners before Youkilis lifted a fly ball to deep center off of Everett Teaford (1-3) to push across the deciding run.
Dylan Axelrod (1-2) tossed two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win for the first-place White Sox, who have won 12 of their last 16 games.
The teams traded runs in the 12th, with Beckham hitting an RBI double for Chicago before Alex Gordon scored Jeff Francoeur with a groundout in the bottom half.
Alcides Escobar hit a two-out, go-ahead triple in the bottom of the eighth inning for the Royals, scoring Lorenzo Cain and Gordon, but Jonathan Broxton failed to maintain the lead.
The White Sox loaded the bases in the ninth and A.J. Pierzynski followed with a game-tying single. Francoeur, who homered earlier in the contest, threw out Orlando Hudson at the plate on the play to limit the damage.
The Home Run Derby ended late Monday night, but these teams didn't get the memo.
Adam Dunn, Alex Rios and Dayan Viciedo all went deep for the White Sox while Mike Moustakas and Francoeur both left their home park, the scene of this year's derby.
"I was happy with the offense," said Royals manager Ned Yost. "They kept coming after it and grinding out at-bats and scoring runs when we needed to."
Dunn and Rios staked Chicago to a three-run, first-inning lead while Viciedo belted the go-ahead shot after Kansas City battled back to claim the advantage.
Moustakas homered during a three-run second inning for the Royals and Francoeur initially put his team in top with a solo shot in the fourth. Escobar added an RBI bunt single later in that frame, making it 5-3.
Cain crossed the plate on Escobar's bunt, one of three runs the center fielder scored in his return from the disabled list. He also had an RBI single in the second inning before touching home on Gordon's base hit to left.
Royals starter Bruce Chen was tagged for six runs on nine hits over 4 2/3 innings while Jose Quintana countered with five frames, allowing five runs on eight hits.
"(Chen) struggled with his command, made some mistakes over the middle of the plate, and they took advantage of it," said Yost.
Game Notes
Youkilis has an eight-game RBI streak...Cain was activated from the 60-day disabled list during the All-Star break. He landed on the DL due to a pair of left leg injuries...The White Sox recalled pitcher Jhan Marinez from Triple-A Charlotte on Friday.
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