Royals 4, White Sox 1: Volquez leads Royals to sweep

The White Sox entered the game looking for their first win of the season. They are still looking. The Royals completed the sweep with a 4-1 victory. Edinson Volquez threw eight strong innings and was aided by a couple of very good plays on his way to the victory. John Danks pitched well through five, but the Royals offense came to life with a three-run sixth to seal the victory.

The Royals scored first when Alcides Escobar led off the first with a double. After Mike Moustakas bunted him to third, he scored on a Lorenzo Cain groundout. Cain continued to haunt the Sox in the top of the second, when Adam LaRoche smashed a ball deep into right center field. Cain got on his horse and ran it down as he crashed into the wall to rob LaRoche of extra bases.

Adam Eaton had an answer for Cain. After Paulo Orlando led off the fifth with a triple, Danks got two quick pop outs. Moustakas followed with a screamer to center and Eaton made a spectacular full out diving catch on a ball directly over his head to keep the game at 1-0.

Unfortunately, the Royals would cash in three runs the next inning. Cain led off with a double. After Eric Hosmer grounded out, Kendrys Morales doubled him home. Alex Rios followed with a groundout of his own, but Salvador Perez took Danks deep into the left field seats to make it 4-0 Kansas City.

The Sox got on the board in the seventh, when after two outs, Volquez sent a message to LaRoche and drilled him in the shoulder. Avisail Garcia followed with a walk and Alexei Ramirez cashed in LaRoche with a single to left. With the tying run at the plate, Conor Gillaspie flew out to Orlando to end the threat.

Greg Holland shut the door in the ninth and sent the Sox back to Chicago 0-3.

• Matt Albers and David Robertson made their White Sox debuts, each throwing a scoreless frame. Albers was a little easier than Robertson's was.
• Micah Johnson showed a little more pop than I gave him credit for. He hit a deep fly to center that Cain ran down in the third and then smoked a double over the left fielder's head in the eighth.
• There was a 4:31 delay going to the bottom of the first because the phone lines to the bullpen and to New York for challenges were down. Coupled with a long delay in the eighth to get the mound right for Edinson Volquez, there was probably ten minutes of downtime during the game.
• Paulo Orlando, a former White Sox farmhand and part of the Dave Wilder scandal, made his major league debut today. He walked in his first at bat and tripled in his second.
• Yes the Sox are 0-3. So are the Pirates after they got swept by the Reds. We'll be ok. Opening Day is tomorrow! Forget this happened.