Randal Grichuk spent a portion of last season with the Kansas City Royals.
The left fielder had a big night against one of his former teams with a home run and four RBIs on Thursday as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Royals 6-2 in front of 14,913 at Rate Field.
“Homers come in bunches, so hopefully we can keep them coming,” said Grichuk, who has three home runs in eight games since signing a one-year deal with the Sox on May 4. “But I feel good.”
Starter Anthony Kay helped the Sox complete a three-game sweep, allowing two runs over a career-high six-plus innings.
“Overall, felt really good,” Kay said. “There were a couple of singles in the first, kind of got (the Royals) going a little bit. But it was Grichuk hitting the homer in the first, gave us the lead back, and let me settle in a little bit.”
The Sox matched a season high with their fifth straight win. At 22-21, they are above the .500 mark after 40-plus games for the first time since they were 81-80 on Oct. 4, 2022.
“These guys have for a long time played well, they play hard, and we’re not done yet,” manager Will Venable said. “This is a good spot to be in, but we’ve just got to continue to play good baseball.”
Grichuk led the way Thursday, going 2-for-3. He followed a two-out walk by first baseman Munetaka Murakami by hitting the home run to left-center against Royals starter Kris Bubic, giving the Sox a 2-1 lead in the first. It was his 81st career home run against a left-handed pitcher (No. 215 overall) during his 13-year major-league career.
“Just be confident in what my strengths are,” Grichuk, 34, said. “I know I’ve hit well against lefties, and that’s something I really haven’t wavered from. The results might not be there, but the at-bats and the barrels are still there. I go in there with confidence knowing that’s what I’m here for, and hopefully the results will take care of itself.”
Bubic walked second baseman Chase Meidroth, surrendered a single to third baseman Miguel Vargas and walked Murakami to load the bases with one out in the third inning. Grichuk came through again, this time with a two-run single to extend the lead to 4-1.
“Just puts himself in a really good position, and it’s nice to be able to go find that midseason here and he’s obviously made a huge impact,” Venable said. “He’s been doing it for a long time. Obviously he’s had a lot of success in this league. We were really excited to be able to get him when (Austin Hays) went down (with a left calf strain), so for us to grab that guy is huge.”
Sox shortstop Luisangel Acuña singled, stole second and scored on a Meidroth single in the fourth to push the Sox lead to 5-1.
Bubic struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings when he faced the Sox on April 10 at Kauffman Stadium. He lasted just four innings Thursday, allowing five runs on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
Kay, meanwhile, rebounded after a first inning filled with traffic — two singles and hitting a batter with a pitch — to top his previous career high of 5 2/3 innings.
“I always want to go long, of course,” Kay said. “But obviously haven’t had success yet and then today for them to have that confidence in me to go out there was nice.”
He surrendered six hits, struck out four and walked two.
“Kay was really good,” Venable said. “A couple of walks there and the hit by pitch, but otherwise was really in the zone with a lot of different pitches. Got some swing and miss, some soft contact. And really was just effective in the zone.”
The Sox recorded their third sweep of the season. They now turn their attention to the City Series against the Cubs, with the three-game series set to begin Friday at Rate Field.
“It’s going to be fun,” Kay said. “Hopefully this stadium is rocking with a lot of White Sox fans. It will be a special weekend, for sure.”
