CHICAGO (AP) — Lance Lynn threw four-hit ball over six innings, Jose Abreu homered for the second consecutive game and Eloy Jiménez hit three singles as the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 4-1 Wednesday.
Lynn (2-4) struck out eight for the third time this season while not walking a batter for the third time in his last four starts. Rookie Bobby Witt Jr. snapped Lynn’s shutout bid by hitting a home run with one out in the sixth.
The White Sox (53-51) won for the third time in four games while remaining two games behind the Twins (55-49) and one behind the Guardians (54-50) in the AL Central. The Royals fell for the seventh time in nine games.
Lynn improved to 5-0 with a 1.08 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings covering his last five starts against the Royals. Witt’s homer ended Lynn’s 19-inning scoreless streak against the Royals dating to April 8, 2021.
Michael Massey, who was promoted from Triple-A Omaha before the game, collected two hits off Lynn. Matheny said Massey, who attended Brother Rice High School — 25 minutes from Guaranteed Rate Field — would be given an extended look at second base.
Abreu provided ample run support for Lynn by hitting a three-run homer, his 14th, off Brady Singer (4-4) in the third. Abreu has driven in six runs in his last two games.
Jimenez’s first-inning single extended his hitting streak to nine games and set up an RBI single by Yoan Moncada. Jimenez is batting .471 (16 for 34) during his streak.
Singer, who pitched seven innings of one-hit ball against the Yankees in his last start July 28, allowed a season-high 11 hits.
The Royals were held hitless in the final three innings by Jake Diekman, Kendall Graveman and Liam Hendriks, who earned his 21st save.
This marked the first time the White Sox won consecutive home series since April 12-14 against the Mariners and April 15-17 against the Rays.
The game was delayed because of rain for 1 hour, 5 minutes with two outs in the bottom of the second.