Moncada, Garcia power White Sox past Royals 5-1

photo by: Kamil Krzaczynski/AP Photo

Chicago White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada, right, rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run off of Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Jorge Lopez, left, during the third inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, April 16, 2019, in Chicago.

Chicago — Yoan Moncada hit a pair of solo shots for his first multihomer game and Leury Garcia added a two-run drive to power the Chicago White Sox past the Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Yonder Alonso also homered and went 4 for 4 as the White Sox won for the fourth time in five games.

Reynaldo Lopez (1-2) allowed one run and five hits in six innings to rebound from a poor start to his season. The 25-year-old right-hander had permitted 18 earned runs in 13 1/3 innings over his first three games and gave up eight runs on 10 hits in his last outing against Tampa Bay.

Four relievers worked the final three innings for Chicago. Alex Colomé pitched the ninth in a non-save situation.

Daniel Palka, who led the White Sox with 27 homers as a rookie last season, went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and is hitless in 32 at-bats this year. He is 0 for 34 dating to last season, the longest current skid for a major league position player.

Lucas Duda homered for the Royals.

Kansas City starter Jorge Lopez (0-2) had a career-high 10 strikeouts but gave up three homers and allowed four runs on eight hits in six innings.

Duda’s homer leading off the second gave the Royals a 1-0 lead. Moncada tied it with a two-out shot in the third.

Jorge Lopez escaped a jam in the fourth by getting Tim Anderson — who began the day leading the majors with a .453 batting average — to hit into a 6-4-3 double play, but the right-hander wasn’t as fortunate in the fifth.

Garcia broke the tie with a two-run homer to right-center and Moncada followed with his second solo shot to make it 4-1. Moncada has five homers this season.

Alonso capped the scoring with a solo drive in the eighth off reliever Jake Newberry. Alonso entered batting .152 and raised his average to .220.

Seeing double

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time in the majors both starting pitchers had the last name of Lopez. The previous matchup of starters with the same last name was on Aug. 12, 2017, when JC Ramirez and the Angels faced Erasmo Ramirez and the Mariners.

Trainer’s room

Royals: C Martin Maldonado was scratched from the original lineup because of illness. “He was going to take it easy and try to play, but no sense pushing it,” manager Ned Yost said. “I was going to give him tomorrow off, but he’ll probably play tomorrow.”

Up next

Kansas City RHP Brad Keller (2-1, 2.45 ERA) and Chicago RHP Lucas Giolito (2-1, 6.19) are scheduled to start the finale of the three-game series Wednesday afternoon. Keller had a career-high 10 strikeouts in his last outing against Cleveland, while Giolito is 4-0 with a 2.40 ERA in seven career starts vs. the Royals.

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