Lorenzo Cain’s two-out single in the 14th inning scored Christian Colon from second base and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2 on Wednesday.
Colon opened the inning with a single and Paulo Orlando sacrificed him to second. Cain laced a single to center to score Colon, ending the 4-hour, 34-minute game, the longest by the Royals this season.
Dillon Gee (4-5), the eighth Kansas City pitcher, struck out three in two perfect innings to pick up the victory. Matt Albers (2-5) was charged with the loss.
But when Chien-Ming Wang came in, the Royals were out of available bullpen arms. That’s when pitching coach Dave Eiland approached Gee and told him to put on his spikes and go to the bullpen. Gee was penciled in to start Saturday, but that is doubtful after this emergency appearance.
Jarrod Dyson led off the 13th inning with a triple, but the Royals failed to get him home. Dan Jennings struck out the next three batters: Drew Butera, Alex Gordon and Alcides Escobar.
But it took another inning. Fourteen pitchers combined to throw 424 pitches. There were 25 hits and 25 runners stranded.
Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy, who has a 0.93 ERA in his past three starts, held the White Sox to one run and six hits over 6 1/3 innings. Kennedy is 0-3 with five no-decisions since a June 26 victory over Houston.
The Royals have scored a total of nine runs while Kennedy was on the mound in his past eight starts.
Tonight is the rubber match. Danny Duffy is pitching for the Royals and Miguel Gonzalez for Chicago. First pitch at 7:15.
AL Central
Cleveland 63-48 – Lost to Washington 7-4
Detroit 61-53 3.5 – Lost to Seattle 3-1
Kansas City 54-59 10
Chicago 54-59 10
Minnesota 46-67 – Game with Houston Postponed
