Gordon Beckham has been scuffling at the plate of late, but he delivered when it counted for the White Sox on Monday night.
Beckham, mired in a 1-for-18 stretch, drove a pitch from Luis Mendoza into the left-field seats in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Chicago over the Royals 4-2 in front of 30,097 fans at U.S. Cellular Field.
After an Alex Rios triple, A.J. Pierzynski drove home the first run of the game on a run-scoring double in the second. But starter Chris Sale served up a pair of solo home runs to Jeff Francoeur and Billy Butler in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively.
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White Sox captain Paul Konerko led off the home half of the seventh with a solo shot of his own -- a low line drive that just snuck over the top of the fence in left field -- to tie the game.
Sale escaped a jam in the eighth when, after a pair of hits to lead off the inning put runners on first and third with nobody out, he induced a lineout and fielder's choice before striking out Lorenzo Cain to end the threat.
The 23-year-old left-hander picked up the win, allowing eight hits in eight innings. He didn't walk a batter and struck out seven, quelling his velocity issues in the process.
Kevin Youkilis added an insurance run in the eighth with an RBI double.
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Addison Reed pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his 20th save of the season.