White Sox 10, Royals 5: And a rookie shall lead them

The Sox were finally able to tag a loss on their 2011 nemesis, Bruce Chen, and the September version of Brent Morel was the difference.

Morel gave the Sox a 2-0 lead with a two-run double in the second, and then cut down the tying run at the plate with a great play in the sixth. The veterans seized the momentum and propelled the Sox to 10 runs for the first time since Aug. 21, and they snapped a seven-game losing streak in the process.

The Royals cut a 4-0 lead in half after five, and they looked to make up the rest of the distance in the sixth off John Danks. Johnny Giavotella made it a one-run game with an RBI triple, and the Royals still had three shots to get him across the plate. Mike Moustakas failed on the first attempt, as he couldn't get his chopper past a drawn-in Gordon Beckham.

Brayan Pena followed by chopping one to the left side. Morel ranged to his left to glove it, spun and hit A.J. Pierzynski with a perfect strike. Pierzynski did his part by getting his foot in front of the plate and blocking Giavotella's slide, and he got the tag down in time to preserve the Sox's lead.

One inning later, Pierzynski followed Paul Konerko's solo shot with one of his own, and the back-to-back shots put the Sox in control the rest of the way.

They even managed to sustain a rally after two outs. Jesse Chavez walked Juan Pierre, followed by singles by Alexei Ramirez and Konerko.  Then Pierzynski unloaded with a smoked liner off the foul pole in right for his second homer of the day, and his three-run shot gave the Sox a 10-4 lead.

Pierzynski had his best offensive day of the season, going 4-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored.

Other statistical items of interest:

*Konerko's homer made it six 30-homer seasons, and the fifth time he paired with 100 RBI.

*Adam Dunn came up with two hits against a lefty, including his first extra-base hit (a double down the line) and another infield single.

*Danks pulled a Mark Buehrle by pitching at least five innings with zero walks and zero strikeouts. Buehrle's done it three times, but it's been more than 10 years since a non-Buehrle Sox pitcher pulled it off.

That distinction belonged to Sean Lowe, who ended up with a loss on July 3, 2001. Danks was the first non-Buerhle pitcher to record a win with no walks or strikeouts since Neil Allen on July 20, 1986.

*Chen entered the game with a 2-0 record in three starts against the White Sox, with a 0.90 ERA and just nine hits allowed over 20 innings.

Record: 74-78 | Box score | Play-by-play