MJ Melendez breaks 8th inning tie with single, Royals beat White Sox 2-1
By MARC BOWMAN
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — MJ Melendez broke an eighth-inning tie with a single to help the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Friday night. With one out, Melendez hit a soft liner to left off Michael Kopech (0-1) to score pinch-runner Dairon Blanco. Chris Stratton (1-0) worked a scoreless eighth for the victory, and James McArthur got a game-ending double-play grounder for his first save. The Royals jumped opened the scoring in the first inning on the first of Salvador Pérez’s three hits, a two-out RBI double off the wall in center. Gavin Sheets tied it with a leadoff homer in the second, lifting starter Brady Singer’s slider 391 feet down the line in right. Luis Robert Jr. left the game in the ninth with a left hip flexor injury.