(TSX / STATS) — KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While Brandon Moss got Sunday’s walk-off hit, it was made possible by two Whit Merrifield home runs.
Moss hit a walk-off RBI double in the ninth inning as the Kansas City Royals edged the Chicago White Sox 5-4.
“Winning to me is always supreme to anything,” Merrifield said. “That’s why you play. I’ve always tried to do what I could to win. When the opportunity presents itself, all I’m trying to do is win the game.”
Moss’ double to right field off Tyler Clippard scored Lorenzo Cain. He was running for Mike Moustakas, who led off the inning with a single.
Merrifield’s home run in the eighth off Dan Jennings tied it at 4.
“He’s a weird at-bat because he’s kind of jerky and quick,” Merrifield said of Jennings. “I just tried to slow everything down and get the barrel to it. I fouled a couple of pitches off that were tough pitches.
“He threw a slider that was a decent pitch, was down, but I got extended and put the barrel on it. I knew I hit it good. Once I saw it backspinning and kind of carrying, I knew it was going to go.”
Kelvin Herrera (3-2) pitched a spotless ninth to pick up the victory. Rookie Gregory Infante (0-1), who started the ninth for Chicago, took the loss.
The Royals blasted four home runs, including two Merrifield solo shots. Merrifield extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
“Whit’s not just a good player late in the game,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He’s a good player at the beginning of the game, in the middle of the game, at the end of the game. He gets up to the plate with the focus of putting together a good at-bat. And he knows how to go about and accomplish that.”
Adam Engel hit a bases-clearing double in a four-run fifth inning as the White Sox took a 4-3 lead.
Tyler Saladino, Omar Narvaez and Yolmer Sanchez singled with one out of Travis Wood. Engel drilled a double down the left-line to score all three.
Kevin McCarthy was summoned to replace Wood and permitted a Jose Abreu RBI double that put the White Sox ahead.
Wood was charged with four runs, seven hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings.
“We were keeping them off balance in the earlier innings and I left a few pitches over the plate in the fifth,” Wood said.
After facing the minimum number of batters the first three innings, White Sox left-hander Derek Holland gave up three straight homers to lead off the fourth.
Merrifield started it with a shot to left on a 2-0 count. Jorge Bonifacio hit his 13th, a full-count blast to left, and Eric Hosmer made it three in a row with a shot that landed in the White Sox right-field bullpen.
The last time the Royals hit three straight home runs was May 25, 2006. It was the second straight game the Royals hit three home runs in an inning.
“That one inning killed me,” Holland said. “Obviously, back-to-back-to-back home runs is definitely going to take you out of it a little bit. Bu, I went out there and continued to fight through it.
“I’m not going to let something like that slow me down. The outcome wasn’t what I wanted. It’s very frustrating with all the work that me and Coop’s (pitching coach Don Cooper) been doing. Just more of an angry approach right now. I’m not happy with that.”
Holland, who had yielded 24 home runs in 102 innings, did not make it through the fifth. Anthony Swarzak replaced him after a Drew Butera double and a Merrifield walk.
“That’s disappointing to go out there and not go at least five or six,” Holland said. “When you don’t execute you get taken out of the game. If anybody wants to blame anything, it’s myself. To me, I think it’s a poor performance. It needs to be better than that. It’s very frustrating. As a starter myself, I’ve got to do better.”
The White Sox have lost nine consecutive games. The Royals ended their 10-game homestand with five straight victories.
NOTES: The Royals have five players — 3B Mike Moustakas, C Salvador Perez, 1B Eric Hosmer, DH Brandon Moss and RF Jorge Bonifacio — on a pace to hit 20 home runs. If that occurs, it would be the first time in franchise history. … Tyler Saladino started at shortstop for the second straight game with Tim Anderson on the White Sox bench. … 2B Yoan Moncada struck out for the first time as a White Sox in the second inning in his 12th plate appearance. … The White Sox open a four-game series Monday with the crosstown rival Cubs at Wrigley Field. White Sox RHP Miguel Gonzalez and Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks are the probables for the opener. … The Royals open a nine-game trip Monday with the first three games at Detroit. Royals RHP Jason Hammel and Tigers RHP Justin Verlander are the Monday probables.
Photo credit – Colin E. Braley / Associated Press / Kansas City, MO