Surging White Sox complete sweep of Royals

? Sandy Alomar wasn’t expecting the call.

When Chicago White Sox manager Jerry Manuel called for Brian Daubach to pinch hit in the 11th inning, Alomar figured he could duck away to the restroom. Then the Kansas City Royals brought in left-hander Graeme Lloyd, and Manuel called for Alomar instead.

“They said, ‘You’re pinch hitting for Daubach,’ and I just said, ‘What?'” Alomar said. “I ran out, put my helmet on, took two swings and went to hit.”

Manuel’s switch paid off.

Alomar hit a tiebreaking two-run double as Chicago beat Kansas City, 8-6, Thursday night for a three-game sweep that brought the White Sox within one game of the first-place Royals.

“Maybe I should do it that way every time,” said Alomar, who scored on a single by his brother Roberto.

Lloyd, who was acquired in a trade Monday with the New York Mets, faulted himself for getting down 2-0 in the count to Sandy Alomar.

“I feel totally responsible for tonight, and it’s not a good feeling,” he said.

Tom Gordon failed to hold a 5-4 lead in the ninth, allowing a tying infield single to Michael Tucker, but Chicago rebounded and swept a three-game series in Kansas City for the first time since June 1991.

Scott Schoeneweis (2-1), acquired Tuesday from Anaheim, pitched the 10th and 11th innings for Chicago, which has won four straight and 12 of 13.

Kansas City, which has lost seven of 10, led the AL Central by seven games at the All-Star break but has gone 6-8 since.

“Our ballclub is going to be back,” manager Tony Pena said. “We’re still in first place. They’re still chasing us.”

Nate Field (1-1) walked Willie Harris leading off the 11th, but Harris was thrown out trying to steal second. Paul Konerko followed with a drive to the left-field wall, but was held to a single when the ball caromed to Raul Ibanez.

Jose Valentin flied out and Joe Crede walked before Lloyd came in.

Carlos Beltran hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 11th, giving him three RBIs.

Gordon, who blew the save for the fifth time in 11 tries, hit Joe Randa with one out in the ninth and walked Beltran.

Ibanez, who matched his career high with four hits, loaded the bases with a single that fell just short of a sliding Carlos Lee in left.

Ken Harvey popped out to first and Tucker, who had been 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, hit a grounder to deep second base and beat Roberto Alomar’s throw as pinch-runner Carlos Febles scored.

Lee homered twice and drove in three runs for the White Sox, and Konerko hit a two-run homer in the sixth that put Chicago up 5-3. Wednesday, he hit a grand slam in a 15-4 win.

The White Sox hit 51 homers in July, matching the team record set in August 2001, and their 13 homers in the series were a season high for a three-game span.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who can hit home runs,” Konerko said. “I don’t think that they’re going up there trying to hit home runs, but we do have a lot of guys with a history of being able to do that.”

All three of Chicago’s home runs Thursday came off Kyle Snyder, who gave up five runs on seven hits in six innings.

Chicago’s Esteban Loiaza gave up three runs and eight hits in seven innings, struck out seven and walked none. His league-leading ERA rose from 2.19 to 2.27.

Damaso Marte gave up three hits in the eighth, including a one-out RBI single by Angel Berroa that pulled the Royals within a run. Marte then struck out Aaron Guiel and retired Brent Mayne on a popout.

Chicago’s Frank Thomas went 0-for-5, remaining one hit shy of 2,000.

Lee, who was 3-for-5 with a sacrifice fly, homered in the first and third innings for a 2-0 lead. His first-inning drive to left center bounced off the top wall of the outfield fountains, 425 feet from the plate, and bounced off the base of Kauffman Stadium’s giant video screen.

Beltran and Ibanez tied the score with RBI singles in the third, but Lee’s sacrifice fly put the White Sox back ahead in the fifth. Beltran had an RBI grounder in the bottom of the inning.

Notes: Chicago’s Magglio Ordonez went 0-for-5, ending his hitting streak at 10 games. He had reached base in nine straight plate appearances. … Injured Royals 1B Mike Sweeney took batting practice for the first time since June 18. Sweeney has been on the DL since June 19 because of upper back tightness. … In the bottom of the first, with two outs and two on, Ordonez made a running, over-the-shoulder grab of Harvey’s long fly ball to right field. … Kansas City completed its first winning July (15-11) since 1996.