Sox swept away by Guthrie, Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jeremy Guthrie flirted with a no-hitter, Salvador Perez drove in three runs and the Kansas City Royals beat the White Sox 5-2 on Sunday to complete a three-game series sweep of the AL Central leaders.

Paul Konerko reached on an infield single with two out in the seventh for Chicago’s first hit. Shortstop Alcides Escobar fielded Konerko’s grounder on the outfield grass and his one-hop throw was dropped by first baseman Eric Hosmer.

Official scorer Del Black ruled it a hit and the Kauffman Stadium crowd of 22,401 loudly booed when the “H” was flashed on the scoreboard.

“The shortstop was on the grass,” said Black, who has been scoring Royals games since 1975. “He had to make a backhanded stop and he was off balance. It’s a tough play from that deep. He makes that play a lot, but it’s a tough play.”

The White Sox collected two clean hits off Guthrie in the eighth when Dayan Viciedo and Ray Olmedo singled with two outs. Manager Ned Yost then summoned left-hander Tim Collins to face Dewayne Wise.

Both runners scored when Wise’s hard grounder went between the legs of Hosmer and rolled to the right-field corner, tying it at 2.

The error snapped Guthrie’s scoreless streak at 22 innings, the longest by a Royal this year. Guthrie was charged with two unearned runs in 7 2-3 innings, allowing three singles, walking one and striking out four.

The Royals regained the lead with three runs in the bottom half. Billy Butler led off with a walk and was replaced by Jarrod Dyson, who swiped second for his 23rd stolen base in 26 attempts and scored on Perez’s single to center off Jesse Crain (2-2).

Mike Moustakas walked and scored on a throwing error by catcher A.J. Pierzynski. Lorenzo Cain’s two-out single scored Hosmer, who reached on a walk.

Perez’s double, a high chopper down the third-base line, drove in Cain and Escobar to put the Royals in front in the sixth.

Guthrie retired the first 14 batters he faced before walking Pierzynski on a full-count offering with two outs in the fifth. Alexei Ramirez broke his bat grounding out to third baseman Moustakas to end the inning.

Greg Holland (6-3) retired the final four batters to pick up the victory.

The Royals had four hits in the second inning and failed to score. Butler led off with a single, but Perez grounded into a double play. Moustakas, Jeff Francoeur and Hosmer hit consecutive singles, but Moustakas was thrown out at the plate when he attempted to score on Hosmer’s hit.

The Royals swept a three-game series from the White Sox for the first time since 2003.