Behind Perez and Singer, Royals shut out White Sox

Before the White Sox squared off against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon, Sox manager Tony La Russa called Royals catcher Salvador Perez "a potential Hall of Famer."

It didn't take long for Perez to affirm those words: he slammed a three-run homer in the first inning that would prove to be all the Royals needed in a 6-0 shutout victory.

Also instrumental were 7 innings of 4-hit, no-walk pitching from Brady Singer. He snapped a personal 5-game losing streak to lift his record to 4-9, while Sox starter Dylan Cease's mark dropped to 11-7.

Kansas City's triumph before 19,696 fans at Kauffman Stadium secured a 10-9 season-series edge, a year after the Sox won 9 of 10 matchups. The Royals have otherwise struggled, languishing in fourth place, 17½ games behind the Sox in the American League Central.

Despite their loss and the second-place Cleveland Indians' victory, the Sox hold a commanding 9½-game lead in the division as they travel to Oakland for a three-game series against the A's starting Tuesday.

Pregame, in pointing out that Perez has always been an aggressive hitter, La Russa said the 31-year-old has "gotten so smart at the plate. ... He knows where (in the strike zone) he's hot."

Lately, that's been just about anywhere. On Saturday, Perez hit two home runs to reach the 40-homer threshold, 13 more than his previous career best. Against Cease, he crushed a pitch off the outside corner to right center field 448 feet for his 41st homer, two behind MLB leader Shohei Ohtani.

The shot was his MLB-high 20th since the All-Star break and gave him 102 RBI, 1 short of Sox slugger Jose Abreu's MLB lead. Cease's shaky start was reminiscent of June 17, when the Astros went up 3-0 on a Michael Brantley home run before Cease recorded an out.

Against the Royals, Cease settled down and minimized further damage.

"That's a rough first inning and he put it behind hm, which is impressive," said La Russa. "He gave us a chance."

But the Sox struggled at the plate, managing only 6 singles and 1 base on balls. The first time a Sox base runner got to second base, there were two outs in the ninth inning. Royal reliever Wade Davis struck out first baseman Gavin Sheets to end it.

Fielding also let down Cease - in the third inning, a routine ground ball by Perez turned into a run booted in when Sheets flubbed the toss from third baseman Yoan Moncada. Running through the bag, Perez kicked the ball in stride to bring around the Royals' 4th run.

For Cease, the fourth inning has been his worst this year, as he surrendered 17 earned runs in 25 such innings before Sunday. On this day, however, he breezed through the frame, whiffing his third, fourth and fifth consecutive batters.

He concluded his 98-pitch effort with 9 strikeouts in 5 innings, having allowed 4 hits and 3 walks. He capped it by escaping a fifth-inning jam with runners on first and third base with one out. He struck out Andrew Benintendi and survived a long flyout off the bat of Carlos Santana.

The Royals stole three bases, including two swipes in the 6th inning by Adalberto Mondesi. He nabbed third despite Sox second baseman Leury Garcia holding him on second base. Hunter Dozier brought him home on a sacrifice fly, growing Kansas City's advantage to 5-0.

After a Matt Foster balk sent right fielder Edward Olivares to second base, second baseman Whit Merrifield's single plated the Royals' 6th and final run.

Even a potential silver lining - Moncada extending his 17-game hitting streak - was denied, when the official scorer ruled that his sharply hit ball to Merrifield was an error in the 6th.

La Russa pledged to appeal that interpretation.

"He hit the ball sharply and it handcuffed the infielder," said La Russa. "I mean, that's a base hit."