CHICAGO (AP)– David Robertson threw the first pitch of the afternoon and the last one. And the Chicago White Sox hoped it would go that way on one strange Sunday.
Robertson got a win and a save as the White Sox won a pair of games against the Kansas City Royals. The day began with Avisail Garcia’s two-out RBI single sending Chicago to a 3-2 victory in the resumption of a game suspended by rain on Friday night, and it concluded with the White Sox rallying for a 5-3 win.
“(Robertson) starting off the day like he did and then finishing it off, it was nice,” manager Robin Ventura said. “Good day when you get two wins in one day.”
The White Sox and Royals were tied at 2 when Friday night’s game was suspended by rain after eight innings. Robertson (2-0) was on the mound when they resumed, and the closer got three outs before Garcia drove in Melky Cabrera in the bottom half with his first career game-ending hit against Kelvin Herrera (0-1).
Robertson, who signed a $46 million, four-year contract with Chicago over the winter, then returned for the ninth inning of the second game and got Omar Infante to bounce out with two runners on for his third save.
“It’s not really any different than going out and having a little flat-ground and playing catch before the game and coming back in,” Robertson said. “You’re throwing a little bit harder obviously with more intensity out there on the field, but I was prepared for it and thankfully I didn’t end up throwing 30 or 40 pitches each inning.”
Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer for Kansas City, which won its first four games of the season against Chicago. Gordon, a four-time Gold Glove winner in left, also made a pair of nice defensive plays, including an outstanding leaping grab into the stands on Micah Johnson’s foul liner in the sixth.
“When I was going over I knew when I jumped I was going to jump in the stands,” Gordon said. “I kind of had an idea of where the fence was and how low it was. I just said I gotta make the catch here and that was it.”
Kansas City right-hander Edinson Volquez (2-2) was charged with one earned run and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander pitched at least seven innings and allowed three runs or less in each of his first three starts.
The White Sox had just one hit and trailed 3-0 before they pushed across five runs in the sixth. Third baseman Mike Moustakas committed a costly error on Jose Abreu’s grounder, allowing Adam Eaton to score, and Conor Gillaspie put Chicago in front with a two-run single.
“It’s a play I need to make. Ninety-nine out of 100 times I make that play,” Moustakas said. “The one time I don’t make it they score five.”
John Danks (1-2) pitched six innings of three-run ball while improving to 8-1 with a 2.73 ERA in 18 career starts against Kansas City.
