Designated hitter Brandon Moss hammered a grand slam while Sam Gaviglio pitched allowed just two runs in five innings as the Kansas City Royals boosted their chance in the Wild Card race with a 4-3 triumph over the chicago white sox Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium. Moss hit the Royals' fifth grand slam this season in the first inning as the Royals improved to 72-72, pulling within 2 1/2 games of the Minnesota Twins for the second American League Wild Card spot.
Gaviglio (4-5) earned the win after allowing two runs on seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts while Royals relievers kept the White Sox at bay, limiting them to just one run in the last four innings.
Scott Alexander pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save of the season. “When you're walking to the plate, the first thing you think about is you'd love to hit a grand slam right here,” said Moss, who has homered in three consecutive games, increasing his total to 21 long balls this season. “After that, not much goes through your head.”
Dylan Covey struggled against White Sox
Dylan Covey (0-5) took the loss after giving up Moss’ grand slam. He lasted 5 2/3 frames, yielding four runs on two hits with four walks and one strikeout as the White Sox slipped to 57-87. "I've kind of been prone to the deep ball a lot this year," said Covey, who allowed just one hit the rest of the way after giving up Moss’ grand slam.
Yolmer Sanchez and Rob Brantly tallied an RBI double each while Tim Anderson knocked in a run for the White Sox.
Royals relievers kept White Sox at bay
Gaviglio gave up a run-scoring double to Sanchez in the third inning and an RBI singles to Anderson in the fourth. Minor took over from Gaviglio and pitched two scoreless frames before yielding a leadoff single to Nicky Delmonico in the eighth.
Peter Moylan held off the White Sox to just one hit in the eighth before Alexander closed out the win in the ninth. In the series finale, the Royals will start left-hander Eric Skoglund (1-2) in place of injured Ian Kennedy while right-hander Lucas Giolito (2-2) will take the mound for the White Sox.
Meanwhile, the Royals claimed right-hander Mike Morin from the Los Angeles Angels.
In a corresponding move, the Royals designated left-hander Onelki Garcia for assignment. The Royals drafted Morin in the 40th round in 2009, but he opted to enroll at University of North Carolina. In 2012, the Angels drafted Morin, who appeared in 10 games this year, posting a 6.91 ERA. He saw action in 22 games with Salt Lake, the Angels' Triple-A affiliate, going 0-1 with a 3.20 ERA.
