Kansas City, Mo. ? In this series, it wasn’t safe to take a lead.

The Chicago White Sox overcame deficits of 4-1 and 5-0 to beat Kansas City in the first two games. On Thursday night, it was the Royals’ turn as they scored four runs in the eighth, capped by Mark Teahen’s inside-the-park homer, and emerged with a 4-1 victory to avoid being swept.

“When I hit it, I was going hard trying to make sure I got a triple,” said Teahen, who also had an inside-the-parker May 27 against Minnesota.

But as second baseman Alexei Ramirez hesitated before making the relay throw to the infield, third base coach Luis Silverio frantically waved on Teahen.

“I trust him. He hasn’t run me into too many outs,” Teahen said.

The frantic ending ruined an otherwise splendid outing by White Sox starter Mark Buehrle.

Jermaine Dye crushed a towering homer off Zack Greinke in the fourth. Then Buehrle, a Royals nemesis, took a four-hit shutout into the eighth, but came out after giving up an RBI double to Mike Aviles that tied it 1-1. Jose Guillen made it 2-1 with an RBI double, then Teahen slammed Boone Logan’s pitch into right-center.

“I don’t think there are many more exciting things for the fans than to see a come-from-behind victory like that and then topped off with an inside-the-park home run,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “It’s pretty exciting.”