Royals pound 5 homers to beat White Sox

Jorge Soler had four hits, including his 42nd and 43rd home runs, as the Kansas City Royals defeated the host Chicago White Sox 8-6 on Wednesday night. The Royals clubbed five home runs in the game. The first 19 runs of the series came via the home run.

Glenn Sparkman (4-11) picked up the win. He allowed three runs on four hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked one. It was the first time in four starts that Sparkman lasted at least five innings. Ian Kennedy recorded his 28th save in 32 chances for Kansas City (54-92).

Reynaldo López (9-13) took the loss. He gave up six runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out six but was victimized by four home runs. Soler took advantage of a tail wind on an unseasonably warm evening in the first inning. His exit velocity was 98.6 mph, and the ball traveled just 366 feet, but it was enough to give the Royals a 2-0 lead.

As they did in Tuesday's game, Chicago (64-81) came right back in the bottom of the first on an opposite-field home run by Eloy Jimenez. Jimenez' home run on Tuesday was a grand slam, while Wednesday's was a three-run shot. Coming into the series, Jimenez had one home run and five RBIs in the first inning. Through two games in this series, he has two home runs and seven RBIs in the first.

Adalberto Mondesi launched a two-run home run in the third, the second straight night that he has homered. Bubba Starling hit a homer in the fourth for the Royals, and Ryan O'Hearn did the same in the fifth, hitting a 3-0 fastball to dead center field. It was the last pitch of the night for Lopez.

Chicago got a run in the sixth on a groundout by Jimenez, driving in Jose Abreu, who led off the inning with a double. Soler connected again in the eighth inning to dead center, and Abreu answered with a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth.

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