KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Noah Cameron pitched into the sixth inning, Salvador Perez hit a go-ahead homer, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 3-1 on Friday night to continue their mastery of their AL Central rivals over the past couple of years.
The Royals are 18-3 against the White Sox since the start of last season, including a four-game sweep of Chicago n May.
Cameron (7-5) set the Royals rookie record at Kauffman Stadium by running his scoreless streak to 19 1/3 innings early on. And when Lenyn Sosa homered off him with two outs in the fourth, Cameron set down the next four batters.
Cameron loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but John Schreiber came in and got Sosa to line into an inning-ending double play.
Carlos Estévez struck out the side in the ninth, finishing 3 2/3 scoreless innings by the Royals bullpen and earning his 31st save.
Aaron Civale (3-8) gave up three straight singles in the first as Kansas City took a 1-0 lead. He allowed one more hit until the fourth, when Perez sent a 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall to make it 2-1.
KC’s Adam Frazier hit a two-out RBI double in the sixth.
Key moment
Royals manager Matt Quatraro was ejected by second base umpire Tom Hanahan in the fifth after Kyle Isbel was thrown out trying to steal second. Quatraro was angry that the White Sox were not called for blocking the bag. It took crew chief Todd Tichenor to get the skipper back to the dugout.
Key stat
The White Sox have lost nine of their last 11.
Up next
RHP Sean Burke (4-9, 4.26 ERA) starts Saturday night for Chicago. RHP Michael Lorenzen (5-8, 4.61) makes his first start for Kansas City since July 6, when he pitched well before landing on the injured list with a left oblique strain.