By MATT PIKE
Carter Jensen extended his franchise-record rookie hitting streak to 19 games and five Kansas City Royals relievers held the Chicago White Sox scoreless across the final five innings to end a four-game losing streak with a 5-4 win at Rate Field in the series finale .
Jensen, who went 3-for-5 with two RBI's in the game, extended the longest active streak in Major League Baseball and now the longest by an American League rookie since 2014. Jensen's RBI single in the first inning scored Lane Thomas to extend his streak and open the scoring. The White Sox answered in the bottom of the inning though on Miguel Vargas' 19th home run of the season, a two-run shot 407 feet into the wind to left, ending the first with Chicago up 2-1.
The Royals took the lead back in the second inning when Thomas drove home Isaac Collins with a single and Bobby Witt Jr. scored Tyler Tolbert on a sacrifice fly. Again though, the Sox responded again in the bottom half on Kyle Teel's two-run single, giving Chicago the lead back after two innings 4-3. In the third inning, the Royals tied the game back up on Collins' bloop double, scoring Starling Marte, in the back and forth game behind Kansas City starter Luinder Avila.
After Avila gave up four runs in four innings, relievers Steven Cruz, Beck Way, Lucas Erceg, Matt Strahm and Alex Lange combined to allow only two baserunners over the final five innings, with Lange pitching a perfect ninth for his seventh save. The Royals have an MLB-high 22 blown-lead losses this season.
Jensen's second hit in the fourth inning, a double into the right-field corner that scored Witt Jr all the way from first base, put the Royals in the lead for good and chased White Sox starter Anthony Kay after 3.2 innings. Kay had been unbeaten at home this season. Not pitching enough innings for the result, Avila took a no decision for Kansas City, while Cruz earned the win, improving to 2-2 on the season pitching a clean fifth inning and striking out one.
The Royals were outscored 24-2 in the first two games of the series but avoided their seventh sweep of the season. Along with Jensen's three hits, Thomas was 2-for-5 with an RBI and a stolen base. Marte and Salvador Perez also were 2-for-5 on the day.
Kansas City is off on Monday and will return to Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays. Noah Cameron (4-5, 4.50 ERA, 75K's) is set to open the series against Griffin Jax (3-5, 3.33 ERA, 53K's). First pitch is at 6:40pm on Tuesday, with pregame at 6 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
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