Kris Bubic struck out a career-high 11, Carter Jensen hit his fourth home run and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 2-0 on Friday night.
Bubic needed just 88 pitches, 59 for strikes, to get through seven innings. The 28-year-old left-hander allowed two hits and a walk and eclipsed his previous high of nine strikeouts, which he accomplished five times. Matt Strahm worked a hitless eighth inning and Lucas Erceg earned his fourth save.
Davis Martin (2-1) was the hard-luck loser for Chicago. The 29-year-old righty allowed two runs on seven hits in seven innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out three. Duncan Davitt made his MLB debut in relief in the eighth.
While Bubic (2-1) was shutting down the White Sox, the Royals were wasting offensive chances. Salvador Perez led off the second with a single, but was doubled off first on a line drive by Michael Massey. Isaac Collins had a one-out single in the third but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double.
The Royals broke through in the fourth as Maikel Garcia led off with a single and Bobby Witt Jr. followed with an RBI double, ending a 17-inning scoreless streak for the Royals.
Lenyn Sosa led off the fifth with a double, the first hit allowed by Bubic. But, he never advanced beyond second as Bubic picked up his eighth strikeout to close the inning.
Jensen hit the first pitch he saw in the seventh 422 feet over the bullpen in right field. His four homers lead the Royals, and he is the only member of the team with more than two.
The White Sox will send RHP Eric Fedde (0-2, 4.09 ERA) to the mound to face Royals RHP Michael Wacha (1-0, 0.69) on Saturday afternoon.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
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