Castillo's 8th-inning blast lifts White Sox over Royals

[April 16, 2019]  Welington Castillo drilled a go-ahead, two-run home run in the eighth inning and the Chicago bullpen delivered four innings of one-run relief to lift the host White Sox to a 5-4 victory against the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Castillo's opposite-field drive to right field snapped an 0-for-23 skid and followed a leadoff double from Tim Anderson, who went 3-for-4 and remains the leading hitter in the majors with a .453 batting average.

Anderson has six multi-hit games among the seven contests he has played at Guaranteed Rate Field this season.

Alex Colome worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth, striking out two to earn his fourth save in as many chances and end the Royals' three-game winning streak.

Kansas City opened the scoring by rallying for three second-inning runs against White Sox right-hander Ervin Santana, who again proved susceptible to the long ball. Hunter Dozier homered to center field on the first pitch of the inning before Chris Owings hit a two-run home run to right-center three batters later.

Dozier and Owings both had two hits.

Santana pitched five innings and took a no-decision, spacing three runs, six hits, three strikeouts and three walks over five innings. He allowed three home runs and seven runs in 3 2/3 innings in his team debut against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 9.

The White Sox tied the game with three runs in the fifth, as Leury Garcia (double) and Yoan Moncada (single) delivered run-scoring hits after Yolmer Sanchez's RBI groundout. Chicago, which benefited from two replay reversals during the inning, had runners on first and second with two outs, but Heath Fillmyer retired Yonder Alonso on a flyout to left field to end the threat.

White Sox catcher Welington Castillo watches his two run home run ball leave the park in the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports

The Royals regained the lead in the seventh. Billy Hamilton, back in action for the first time since sustaining a knee injury when colliding with the outfield wall late in Thursday's game, drew a leadoff walk. He stole second base and advanced to third on a Castillo throwing error before scoring on a Whit Merrifield sacrifice fly.

Manny Banuelos (1-0) was the winner, pitching three innings of one-run, no-hit relief while walking three and striking out one.

Brad Boxberger (0-3) took the loss and his second blown save of the season, allowing two runs and two hits while walking one in the Chicago eighth.

--Field Level Media

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