Bonifacio, Perez homer as Royals blank White Sox
Left-hander Danny Duffy pitched seven scoreless innings and Jorge Bonifacio drove in three runs as the Kansas City Royals defeated the host Chicago White Sox 5-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Duffy (5-8) allowed only four hits, walked three and struck out eight as the Royals won for just the second time in their past 14 games. Jason Hammel and Wily Peralta each pitched an inning of relief to complete the shutout.
Bonifacio hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the first inning, and added a run-scoring triple in the fifth. All-Star Salvador Perez added a two-run homer in the eighth for the Royals.
Bonifacio, who hit 17 homers as a rookie last year, was playing in just his 13th game of the season after missing the start of the 2018 campaign while serving an 80-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's joint drug prevention and treatment program.
White Sox right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (4-7), who became a father Friday night with the birth of his daughter, allowed five runs on nine hits in 7 2/3 innings. He didn't walk a batter and struck out seven.
The Royals got to Lopez early, as Whit Merrifield led off the first with a single and Bonifacio hit a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall.
Kansas City added a run in an adventurous fifth.
Paulo Orlando led off the inning with a single to left and advanced to second on a balk. White Sox manager Rick Renteria objected and was ejected by home-plate umpire Adam Hamari. On a pickoff play, Orlando collided with White Sox second baseman Yoan Moncada, who had to leave the game with a bruised right knee. With two outs, Bonifacio lined a triple to left field to make it 3-0.
The Royals capped the scoring in the eighth, as Merrifield singled and stole second before being thrown out at third when Bonifacio hit the ball back to the pitcher. With two outs, Perez homered to right, his 13th of the season.
The game started about 20 minutes late because of inclement weather in the Chicago area.
--Field Level Media