KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Alex Gordon drove in three runs and Jeremy Guthrie pitched effectively into the sixth inning as the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 7-5 in their home opener Friday.
Gordon hit a bases-clearing double in the first inning and Guthrie allowed four runs on seven hits, four walks and a hit batter in 5 2-3 innings.
Lorenzo Cain drove in two runs with a two-out fifth inning single that put Kansas City ahead 7-2.
The Royals jumped on White Sox rookie right-hander Erik Johnson for six hits and four runs in the first two innings. Johnson retired only 14 of the 28 batters he faced, yielding seven runs on 10 hits, three walks and a hit batter to take the loss.
Jose Abreu and Conor Gillaspie hit sacrifice flies against Guthrie, and Adam Eaton hit a two-run single off reliever Kelvin Herrera in the sixth, but both runs were charged to Guthrie.
Tyler Flowers, who went 4-for-4 Thursday against Minnesota, had hits in his first three at-bats, but the streak ended in the eighth when Aoki dropped his fly ball to right.
The Royals, who had not made a challenge in spring training or in the first two games against the Tigers, asked the umpires to review a call in the seventh when Abreu was called safe at first on a throwing error by third baseman Mike Moustakas that pulled Eric Hosmer’s foot off the bag. After a two minute, 49 second delay, the call was upheld.
Greg Holland pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save after setting a Royals’ record with 47 saves last season.
Notes: RHP Nate Jones was put on the disabled list by the White Sox with a muscle strain in his left hip. RHP Jake Petricka was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. Jones had allowed four runs without retiring a batter in his first two appearances. Petricka pitched 2 1-3 scoreless innings after Johnson was pulled in the fifth. . LHP Bruce Chen, who is 7-2 against the White Sox since the start of the 2011 season, starts Saturday. LHP John Danks will make his first White Sox start.
