White Sox plate two in ninth to beat Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Though veterans Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia came through in the ninth inning, there is no doubt the Chicago White Sox are looking more to the future.

Abreu and Garcia drove in runs in the ninth as the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 5-3 Wednesday.

The White Sox took two of three at Kauffman Stadium, winning their first road series since June 16-18. While they have the worst American League record (58-87), they have won four of their past five games, hitting .360 with 26 extra-base hits and 40 runs in that span. They won a series in Kansas City for the first time since 2015.

Abreu's sacrifice fly scored Tim Anderson, who led off the inning with a single, took second on a wild pitch by Scott Alexander (4-4) and stole third.

Garcia's single to center scored Yoan Moncada with the second run. Garcia is hitting an American League-leading .432 against left-handed pitchers.

"We never give up," Garcia said. "We always keep fighting. We never know what's going to happen. What we can control is giving our best."

Alexander was working for the fifth time in seven games, including throwing 17 pitches in a Tuesday save and 27 on Sunday. Manager Ned Yost said before the game Alexander was unavailable.

"They called down. I said I felt fine," Alexander said. "We're all tired. It's the same thing for everybody. We're all trying to be available."

The Royals, who entered three games behind Minnesota for the second AL wild card, tied the score at 3 in the eighth. Alcides Escobar singled in one run, while pinch runner Terrance Gore scored the other on an Alex Gordon groundout.

Juan Minaya (3-2) pitched 11/3 scoreless innings to pick up the victory.

Adan Engel hit a two-run double in the second for Chicago, scoring Tyler Saladino and Kevan Smith. Engel has nine of his 20 RBIs this season against the Royals.