KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jeremy Guthrie was not at his best, but he came away with a "W" by his name in the box score.

Guthrie survived into the sixth inning and Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain each drove in two runs as the Kansas City Royals held off the Chicago White Sox 7-6 on Saturday night.

Designated hitter Jose Abreu homered twice for the White Sox (51-57), who lost for the ninth time in 12 games against the Royals (65-44) this season.

Guthrie picked up the victory, although he yielded six runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

"You're never just pumping strikes. You're still trying to make smart pitches with dangerous hitters," Guthrie said. "7-2 is a comfortable lead, but we saw if you don't execute pitches -- good, quality pitches -- and they string together hits, all of a sudden you're in a real dogfight."

The White Sox sent nine men to the plate in a four-run sixth to chase Guthrie and cut Kansas City's lead to one.

"He just ran out of steam a little bit, I think," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "The ball Abreu hit out, he was trying to sink the ball down and away and it kind of sank back to the middle. He got two outs and then a couple of baserunners and another run scored. I thought he threw the ball OK."

Abreu led off the sixth with his 21st home run of the season. The inning included an RBI single by shortstop Carlos Sanchez and a two-run single by center fielder Adam Eaton.

"I've been feeling very good (since) the All-Star Game," Abreu said through an interpreter. "The power has been there, and the homers have been there also. But, the most important thing is to get wins. It doesn't matter what you can do as an individual if you lost. The most important thing is what you can do as a team."

Greg Holland struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth to pick up the save.

Abreu led off Chicago's two-run fourth with his first homer of the game on an 85 mph cutter from Guthrie that sailed over the center-field fence.

After Abreu's blast, left fielder Melky Cabrera doubled down the left-field line and stopped at third on right fielder Avisail Garcia's single. Cabrera scored when first baseman Adam LaRoche grounded into a double play.

White Sox right-hander Jeff Samardzija, who did not allow a baserunner in the first three innings, could not hold the 2-0 advantage for long.

Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar began the bottom of the fourth with a single to center. Samardzija walked third baseman Mike Moustakas and Cain to load the bases with nobody out. First baseman Eric Hosmer's fielder's-choice grounder scored Escobar, and Moustakas came home on designated hitter Kendrys Morales' groundout.

Perez's two-out single drove in Hosmer to make it 3-2.

"Two walks kill you, especially against a team like this," Samardzija said. "You've got to keep those runners off the base, and they battled. Moose and Cain put together good at-bats, and then they battled after that, too. Walks come back to haunt you all the time."

The Royals chased Samardzija in a four-run fifth, which center fielder Jarrod Dyson led off with a triple to right-center. After Escobar was hit by a pitch, Moustakas' sacrifice fly brought Dyson home. Escobar went to second on Moustakas' fly and to third on a wild pitch before scoring on Cain's single.

Morales' RBI double ended Samardzija's night, and Perez greeted left-handed reliever Dan Jennings with an opposite-field, run-producing double.

Samardzija was roughed up for seven runs, six hits and two walks -- and he hit a batter -- in 4 2/3 innings.

White Sox catcher Geovany Soto made a costly running blunder to end the fifth. With Soto on second and third baseman Tyler Saladino at first, Soto was off and running with the count full on Abreu. Guthrie, however, threw to third and Soto was trapped in a rundown.

"That was huge," Yost said. "The inside move (by Guthrie) with a 3-2 count on Abreu there that was a huge play. Salvy caught it, saw it the pitch before and put the sign on for the inside move, and Jeremy executed it perfectly."

NOTES: White Sox CF Adam Eaton, who left in the fourth inning on Friday with a jammed left shoulder upon falling after making a catch, was back in the lineup. ... OF Ben Zobrist, who started eight games in left field since being acquired in a July 28 trade with Oakland, was not in the Kansas City lineup. Manager Ned Yost said it was a day off. ... White Sox LHP Jose Quintana will start the series finale on Sunday at Kansas City, which counters with LHP Danny Duffy, who has a 2.66 ERA since coming off the disabled list on June 23. ... Royals LF Alex Gordon took batting practice for the first time since going on the DL with a strained left groin. ... Royals RHP Wade Davis had a stiff back and was not available.