Jakob Junis struck out a career-high 10 and Nicky Lopez drove in a pair of runs and scored twice as the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2 on Monday night.
Junis (5-8) worked seven innings and gave up one run, James McCann’s 10th homer of the season.
Whit Merrifield extended his hitting streak to 13 games (.358, 19 for 53) with a bunt single in the seventh. He leads the majors with 122 hits.
The second of the four-game series on Tuesday matches White Sox RHP Dylan Cease (1-0, 5.40 ERA) and Royals RHP Glenn Sparkman (2-5, 5.18 ERA), the first start for each since the All-Star break.