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 With starter Danny Duffy pulled after 16 batters, Medlen was
summoned and threw 3 2/3 hitless innings as the Royals beat the
Chicago White Sox 5-4.
"Medlen was absolutely fantastic," Yost said. "He was throwing
strikes, pitching in, had command of his pitches."
Duffy was staked to a 3-0 lead, but could not hold it and was
removed after 3 1/3 innings, his shortest outing since May 6. He
allowed three runs on four hits, two walks and a hit batter.
Duffy started the third by walking second baseman Carlos Sanchez and
hitting catcher Tyler Flowers with a pitch. Third baseman Gordon
Beckham's single scored Sanchez.
A Duffy wild pitch moved the runners up a base, and shortstop Alexei
Ramirez got them both home with a single to center.
After Duffy yielded singles to center fielder Trayce Thompson and
Sanchez in the fourth, Medlen replaced him. Medlen struck out
Flowers and retired Beckham on a fly ball to strand the runners on
the corners.
"The long-reliever role gets a little tough sometimes," Medlen said.
"You've just got to make sure you're ready out there. Duffy had a
little rough patch. I'm just out there trying to do my job. That's
probably the most consistent my delivery has felt. It's tough to
simulate the game pitches, so I worked a lot in between. I just felt
a lot better."
Omar Infante got the winning run home in the eighth inning with a
soft ground ball. Second baseman Infante's grounder to first baseman
Jose Abreu was enough to score right fielder Alex Rios, who led off
the inning with a single and took third on left fielder Paulo
Orlando's ground-rule double.
"They're a team that puts the ball in play, they get breaks like
that," losing pitcher Jake Petricka said.
It was the pitch to Orlando he would like to have back.
"It was a sinker in, and I think he was sitting for that pitch and
he got it and put a good swing on it," Petricka said.
Ben Zobrist gave the Royals a 4-3 lead in the fifth with a
run-producing single. Center fielder Jarrod Dyson led off the fifth
with a single and moved to second on shortstop Alcides Escobar's
sacrifice bunt. Third baseman Zobrist singled to center on an 0-2
pitch to get Dyson home.
The White Sox, however, tied it in the eighth when left fielder
Melky Cabrera's two-out single off right-hander Kelvin Herrera
scored designated hitter Adam Eaton, who had opened the inning with
a double.
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Designated hitter Kendrys Morales highlighted the Royals' three-run
first inning with a two-run homer. That pushed Morales' RBI total to
80. The last time the Royals had a player with 80s RBIs after 110
games was Mike Sweeney and Jermaine Dye in 2000.
First baseman Eric Hosmer doubled home Escobar, who led off with a
walk, with the first run.
White Sox starter Jose Quintana was removed after 6 2/3 innings,
allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks.
"With Q, it was tough getting out of the first inning; they knocked
him around but we battled back to tie it up," White Sox manager
Robin Ventura said. "We did it a couple of times. These guys
grinded. Their guys just ended up chipping away."
NOTES: The Royals recalled OF Paulo Orlando from Triple-A Omaha and
optioned INF Cheslor Cuthbert to the Storm Chasers. This is
Orlando's third stint this season with the big-league club. ... Ben
Zobrist made his first start at third base since 2010 as Royals
manager Ned Yost rested 3B Mike Moustakas and CF Lorenzo Cain.
Moustakas is hitless in his past 12 at-bats and in a 4-for-39 skid.
He entered Sunday's game at third base in the eighth inning, but did
not have an at-bat. ... White Sox CF Trayce Thompson made his first
major-league start. ... Chris Sale, who leads the AL with 186
strikeouts, starts Monday against the Angels as the White Sox open a
six-game homestand. ... RHP Johnny Cueto will make his third Royals'
start Monday against the Tigers. The Royals have lost his first two
starts since being obtained in a July 26 deal with Cincinnati. The
Tigers will start LHP Matt Boyd.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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