Offense sends Royals to 6-2 win over White Sox

Before he touched first base, before he made a triumphant trot around the diamond in a 6-2 Royals victory, Lorenzo Cain allowed himself an indulgence. He peeked into the dugout. His teammates wore hoodies over their torsos and expressions of exhalation across their faces.

In the third inning on Wednesday night, as the Royals salvaged a series victory over Chicago and set the stage for a three-game collision with Detroit, Cain made Chicago White Sox ace Sale resemble a mortal. Cain launched a three-run homer, Nori Aoki set a club record as he extended his torrid string of hitting and Alcides Escobar smacked a homer of his own to continue his mastery of Sale as the offense carried the day.

Backed by the barrage, Yordano Ventura authored one of his finest outings as a Royal. Gone were the lapses in command and concentration. He steeled himself through a third-inning, bases-loaded jam, struck out seven and held Chicago to one run across seven innings.

The result set the stage for the clash with the division-leading Detroit Tigers on Friday. Kansas City (83-68) can reclaim the division lead with the sweep. They also require as many victories as possible if they hope to hold off Seattle in the quest for the second Wild Card. To maintain their advantage on Wednesday, the Royals required an offensive effort that was unexpected but appreciated.

Sale entered this game with one run allowed in 15 innings against the Royals this season. His opponents ignored the history. They dinged him for a season-high five earned runs on nine hits, the second-highest number of knocks he has allowed in 2014.

What Cain did was not impossible. Sale had given up 11 home runs this season. But what Cain accomplished was improbable. Never before, in his 164 games in the majors, had Sale yielded a homer on an 0-2 pitch. Cain jumped on a hanging slider and lofted it over the left-field fence. The blast electrified a ballpark begging for release.

The week at home was not kind to the Royals. They lost their lead in the American League Central. The lowly Red Sox nipped them three times in four games. Manager Ned Yost saw a pair of diametrically opposed bullpen strategies backfire: Aaron Crow served up a grand slam to cost the team a game on Sunday. Two days last, chastened by the experience, Yost watched in disbelief as Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis each allowed runs for the first time since June.

Now they had to face one of the finest pitchers in the game. Sale resembles a stringbean. He strikes opposing batters like a serpent, a 180-pound whirl of lanky limbs and devastating deception. "That guy’s unbelievable," said Escobar, who has 16 hits off Sale, more than any other player in the majors. "Wow. Everything is moving."

He may be the hardest starting pitcher in the majors to sting for a hit: He entered Wednesday giving up 6.4 hits per nine innings, the lowest mark among American League starters. He also led the American League in starter ERA (1.99) and strikeouts per nine (10.6). In 15 innings against the Royals earlier this season, he yielded just one run.

He squared off with a fading offense, which had averaged 3.3 runs per game in September. The specter of the incoming ace caused Yost to crack wise.

"He throws a lot of strikes, and that’s good for us," Yost said before the game. "Because we swing at a lot of balls. The more strikes somebody throws us, it could play into our advantage."

Escobar ignited the third inning by ripping a changeup into left field. Up next was Aoki, who has become this offense’s unlikely catalyst. Over these past three games, he notched 11 hits, a collection of check-swing singles, bleeders and bloopers. His 10th hit in this array was a grounder bouncing over the third baseman’s head.

Cain inherited the No. 3 spot in the batting order earlier this week. He earned the position thanks to his legs, not his lumber. Yost sought speed, and Cain offered that quality. His strength lays dormant in his slender frame, still capable of being unleashing at certain moments.

The moment arrived in the third. Sale pumped a fastball over the middle for strike one, and Cain fouled back a similar offering. Next came a slider, 81 mph and fat over the plate. Cain belted it and took a joyous journey around the bases.

A little defensive incompetence aided the Royals later in the frame. After Josh Willingham walked, Salvador Perez skied a pop-up into right-center field. The ball triangulated center fielder Adam Eaton, right fielder Avisail Garcia and second baseman Marcus Semien. All three came up empty.

It was a gift of a hit, and what followed was an added bonus. Willingham chugged all the way from first. A throw from Eaton drew catcher Tyler Flowers up the third-base line. Willingham tested his sore groin muscle by tangoing away from Flowers’ outstretched glove for Kansas City’s fourth run.

If that tally involved finesse, their fifth run required only brute force. Escobar supplied it. Earlier in the day, he could not pinpoint the reasoning for his dominance of Sale. The ace did not make him uncomfortable at the plate.

"I’m looking for a fastball," Escobar said. "Because he throws hard, he throws over 95. If he throws me a changeup, if he throws me a slider, I can see it."

In the bottom of the fourth, Sale fed Escobar a 2-2 fastball. It registered at only 93 mph. It exited the park at a faster clip, and cleared the left-field fence for only his third homer this season.

This story was originally published September 17, 2014 at 10:04 PM with the headline "Offense sends Royals to 6-2 win over White Sox."