Jose Abreu didn’t take long to continue his hitting streak.
The Chicago White Sox designated hitter hit a two-run homer in the first inning, extending his streak to 19 games, in a 5-3 victory against the Royals on Saturday at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
“He’s our heart and soul, man,” Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito said. “It seems like he’s getting that clutch hit every single game. Runners in scoring position, two outs, when we need to get those runs across, he gets the job done.”
First baseman Yasmani Grandal also had a two-run homer for the Sox (25-15), who maintained their half-game lead over the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins in the American League Central.
Luis Robert made a spectacular diving catch on a liner to center by Maikel Franco for the first out of the ninth inning to help preserve the win.
“I know there are numbers out there that will tell you what the expectancy rate was for him to potentially catch that ball or not,” Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “At this point, my eyes say he caught it and he ran a long ways. It was a great catch. Could have certainly changed the game if that ball falls.”
Giolito allowed three runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and no walks in six-plus innings to improve to 4-2. He surrendered a single and double in the seventh before exiting.
“I felt pretty good about the outing, but I really wanted to get through the seventh or at least get one of those first two guys that I faced,” Giolito said. “Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. But the bullpen picked me up.”
Abreu’s homer off Kris Bubic gave him 40 RBIs in 40 games. It’s the eighth-highest RBI total through 40 games for a Sox player since at least 1920 and most since Jim Thome had 41 through 40 games in 2006.
“He’s an amazing person even more so than a player,” Giolito said. “What he provides for us on a daily basis, leading by example. Leading vocally when he needs to. … Such a great player.”
Sox shortstop Tim Anderson had two hits, two runs and a walk, raising his average to .360. He drove in a run with an infield hit in the fifth. Grandal followed with his fifth homer of the season, giving the Sox a 5-1 lead.
“Everyone’s contributing,” Giolito said. “I can talk about each individual guy, but we’re all in this together and I’m very pleased to see everyone contributing. Everyone’s on the same page.”
Closer Alex Colome, who threw 40 pitches while recording a four-out save Friday, returned Saturday. With the help of Robert’s catch, he retired the side in the ninth for his ninth save.
“He came off the mound (Friday) night saying, ‘Hey, I’m good,’ came in (Saturday) afternoon and said, ‘Hey, I’m good,’ ” Renteria said. “When he tells you, I’m good, he’s genuinely good. There’s something about his makeup that continues to push him and put him in good situations.”
The Sox improved to 13-0 against left-handed starters this season and 8-1 in the season series.
“They’re reacting exactly how you want a team to react,” Grandal said of how the young team is approaching the stretch run. “Not thinking about it too much, they’re taking it one game at a time.
“There’s no talk of playoffs, there’s no talk of World Series. It’s just talk of today’s game and what we need to do in order to win, and that’s pretty much what you need.”
