Royals win in 11th on Santos' wild pitch

[July 21, 2011]  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Alex Gordon informed Kansas City Royals third base coach Eddie Rodriguez he was alert for a wild pitch with two outs in the 11th inning.

Gordon got what he was looking for.

Sergio Santos threw a wild pitch that allowed Gordon to score, giving the Kansas City Royals a 2-1 victory Wednesday night.

Billy Butler swung at a slider in the dirt that got away from catcher A.J. Pierzynski and Gordon raced home and scored with a headfirst slide to give the Royals their 10th win in the final at-bat.

"I told Eddie I knew they were going to pitch Billy tough with splitters and sliders," Gordon said. "I told him if I get anything close to a wild pitch I'm going. Once I saw it get away from Pierzynski a little bit, I was off."

Chris Sale (2-1) retired the first two batters before walking Gordon, who went to third on Mitch Maier's single. Santos then replaced Sale.

The White Sox managed just five hits -- four singles and Carlos Quentin's home run -- off starter Bruce Chen and relievers Joakim Soria and Aaron Crow.

"We win that game because of Chen and our bullpen keeps us in the game," Gordon said. "They really won the game for us."

Crow (3-2) worked two scoreless innings, allowing one hit, for the victory.

The Royals threatened in the 10th with runners on second and third and two outs, but rookie Mike Moustakas, who is in an 0-for-22 slump, popped up to second baseman Gordon Beckham to end the inning.

White Sox starter John Danks yielded five singles in seven scoreless innings and left with a 1-0 lead that the bullpen failed to hold. Danks walked one, struck out six and did not allow a Royals player to reach third base.

Danks was making his first start since June 25 when he left in the second inning against Washington with a strained right oblique and went on the disabled list. After starting the season 0-8 with a 5.25 earned run average, Danks is 3-0 with a 0.88 ERA in his past five starts.

Royals left-hander Bruce Chen held the White Sox hitless for the first four innings before Quentin led off the fifth with his 19th home run. Quentin hit a 1-0 pitch just a few feet inside the foul pole. Quentin was hit by a pitch from Chen in the second inning. He has been hit by 20 pitches, tops in the American League.

That would be the only run Chen would allow in eight innings. He yielded three singles besides Quentin's home run, walked two, struck out four and hit three batters.

"Bruce was phenomenal," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He was in and out, changing speeds. Quentin hit a good pitch. He golfed it out."

The Royals tied the score in the eighth off relievers Matt Thornton and Jesse Crain. Gordon led off the inning with a single, advanced to third on Butler's single to center and scored on Jeff Francoeur's double to center with one out. After Eric Hosmer was walked intentionally to load the bases, Crain struck out Brayan Pena. Sale was brought in to face Moustakas, who grounded out to Paul Konerko to end the inning.

The Royals have won two straight, but still have the worst record (40-58) in the American League.

"We're too good of a team to be 20 games below .500," Francoeur said.

The White Sox scored only three runs in 20 innings in losing the final two games to the Royals.

"This team is one day we're good, three days we're bad," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We don't have any energy in the dugout. ... We're going to Cleveland and the way we're going there, good luck. We're wasting our money. That's all I have to say. That's the ballclub we have all year long."

Juan Pierre's bunt single in the White Sox sixth extended his hitting streak to 12 games, matching his season high.

NOTES: White Sox DH Adam Dunn did not play Wednesday because of a sore knee. "A couple of days off hopefully will help him," Guillen said. White Sox RHP Tony Pena, who went on the disabled list May 29 with elbow tendinitis, is going to Chicago to see a doctor. "He's got some kind of problem in his arm," Guillen said. "That's what I hear. The doctor will reevaluate him to see what is wrong." The Royals traded INF Wilson Betemit to Detroit for two young minor leaguers -- LHP Antonio Cruz, 19, and C Julio Rodriguez, who turns 22 Aug. 3. The Royals recalled INF Mike Aviles, who hit .309 with nine home runs and 25 RBIs in 35 games with Triple-A Omaha, to take Betemit's spot on the roster. Royals CF Melky Cabrera left after seven innings with a stomach virus. He was replaced by Maier. The White Sox optioned rookie LHP Hector Santiago to Double-A Birmingham to make roster space for Danks.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.