Major League Baseball
Chi. White Sox 7, Kansas City 5
When: 2:10 PM ET, Sunday, September 6, 2015
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Temperature: 92°
Umpires: Home - Ron Kulpa, 1B - Larry Vanover, 2B - Brian Knight, 3B - Victor Carapazza
Attendance: 38902

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Erik Johnson had one frightening moment in his Sunday start.

Johnson pitched six strong innings as the Chicago White Sox topped the Kansas City Royals 7-5 to complete a three-game sweep.

The White Sox have won four straight for the first time since a seven-game streak from July 23-29.

Johnson (1-0) claimed the victory, giving up three runs on five hits -- three of them solo home runs -- while striking out three and walking none.

Johnson's final pitch shattered the bat of Royals designated hitter Alex Gordon and a piece of the bat went sailing toward the mound.

"That was scary," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "I'm glad we got the out on that one. He said it hit him on the arm. At first it looked like it might have got him a little bit higher, but it's scary when that bat's flying around."

Ventura said he thought Johnson deflected some of the shrapnel with his glove.

"He said he had a nice little karate move to stop it," Ventura said. "He did something to block it."

Royals starter Johnny Cueto lasted only three innings and 77 pitches, surrendering five runs on seven hits, two walks and a sacrifice fly.

Cueto lost his fourth straight start and is 2-5 with a 4.86 ERA in eight starts since the Royals obtained him in a July 26 trade with Cincinnati.

"I'm not going to change my routine," Cueto said with coach Pedro Grifol acting as his interpreter. "I'm going to continue doing what I've done and I've had success with.

"I'm going to look at video and continue to work. This is the first time I've had a streak like this."

Manager Ned Yost said there is nothing physically wrong with Cueto.

"Physically, he feels great," Yost said. "Shoulder feels good, elbow feels good, back, legs. He's just going through a stretch right now."

Cueto beat the White Sox on May 9, allowing four runs in 8 1/3 innings

"It's tough for me to say what I think," White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton said of Cueto. "I don't want to downplay how good he is, but what he had today was not his normal self. He is a very, very good pitcher. I don't know if he's throwing as hard as what he did in Cincinnati, when we saw him in Cincinnati. He's a great pitcher; that's all I can say."

Eaton led off the game with a single and moved to third on shortstop Alexei Ramirez's double that missed clearing the left-field fence by inches. First baseman Jose Abreu's single scored Eaton.

After Cueto walked left fielder Melky Cabrera to load the bases, right fielder Avisail Garcia hit a two-run single.

The third began with a Cabrera single and a Garcia walk. First baseman Adam LaRoche's single got Cabrera home and advanced Garcia to third base. Catcher Rob Brantly flied out to right fielder Ben Zobrist to score Garcia.

The White Sox hiked their advantage to 6-1 when Eaton homered.

The Royals, however, trimmed that lead to one run by the seventh inning.

Third baseman Mike Moustakas and center fielder Jarrod Dyson homered in the sixth off Johnson.

The Royals scored two in the seventh off the White Sox bullpen. Jake Petricka began the inning by hitting catcher Salvador Perez, who homered in the second inning, with a pitch to lead off the inning. Perez stopped at third on left-fielder Paulo Orlando's double.

Matt Albers, who replaced Petricka, allowed an infield single to Dyson to score Perez. Shortstop Alcides Escobar's sacrifice fly scored Orlando.

NOTES: 3B Mike Olt, who was claimed by the White Sox Saturday off waivers from the Cubs, became the fourth different White Sox starter at third base. ... Royals 3B Mike Moustakas, who had not started since Aug. 30 because of a pulled hamstring, was in the lineup for the series finale. ... White Sox RF Avisail Garcia tops AL outfielders with 16 assists. ... Twins LHP Tommy Milone and RHP Yordano Ventura are the pitching probables for a Labor Day matchup at Kauffman Stadium. ... White Sox LHP Chris Sale starts Monday against Indians RHP Trevor Bauer at Chicago.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Chi. White Sox   Kansas City
Erik Johnson Player Johnny Cueto
Win W/L Loss
6.0 IP 3.0
3 Strikeouts 4
5 Hits 7
4.50 ERA 15.00
Hitting
Chi. White Sox   Kansas City
Adam Eaton Player Jarrod Dyson
3 Hits 2
1 RBI 2
1 HR 1
7 TB 5
.600 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Chi. White Sox 12 1 17 .333 19 7 7 4 0 0
Kansas City 7 3 17 .212 7 6 5 0 0 0