Forget about Florida. Maybe Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf should move his team to Kansas City. The White Sox last lost here July 11, 1996.
Their 11th straight victory in Kansas City came on a cloudy Thursday afternoon before 16,590 fans at Kauffman Stadium. Jaime Navarro had his best outing since Opening Day, going the distance in a 7-1 win to give the Sox (24-33) a split in their eight-game road trip.
“I didn’t feel he was in danger at any time,” Sox manager Jerry Manuel said.
Navarro, who allowed eight hits and just two walks, traced his improvement to sessions with pitching coach Nardi Contreras. They looked at films of Navarro’s glory days, when he went 29-18 during two years with the Cubs.
Contreras encouraged Navarro to use more of a windmill action and snap his wrist.
“It worked,” said Navarro, who last threw a complete game last July. “Today my mechanics were perfect and my fastball had good life.”
Contreras said: “Give him the glory. Give him the praise.”
Some of the praise should also go to the Sox’s hitters, particularly Jeff Abbott, who drilled a three-run homer to left-center to put the Sox ahead 5-0 in the sixth.
“It seems like I swing pretty well when I get the chance,” said Abbott, who improved his team-best average to .322 in his 12th start of the season.
Navarro (5-6) gave up his only run in the seventh inning on an RBI single by Jeff Conine. With runners at the corners, Navarro induced Jermaine Dye to hit into a 6-4-3 double play, Kansas City’s fourth of the game. Navarro pumped his fist after that and shut down the Royals the rest of the way.
“I want us to get to .500 by the All-Star break,” said Navarro, who snapped a three-game losing streak. “I’m not going to just talk. I’ll keep battling.”
