Royals’ starter Kyle Davies wasn’t particularly sharp on Tuesday night, but the hitter kept battling the whole night and found a way to come back and win in 11 innings on a John Buck single for the 8-7 decision.
Buck took Sox reliever Lance Broadway’s first pitch and grounded it through the hole between third and short to drive in Mitch Maier for the game winner. The bullpen held the Sox down without a run for six innings while the Royals clawed their way back.
Kyle Davies was charged with six of the seven runs the Sox scored in the first five innings. The Sox were up 1-0 in the third when they went up 4-0 thanks to a solo home run from Josh Fields and a two run shot from former Royal Jermaine Dye.
Down 5-1 in the fourth, first basemen Mike Jacobs took Sox starter Gavin Floyd deep for a three run shot which got the Royals back in the game at 5-4. In the fifth, Davies gave up a lead off single and was pulled in favor of Robinson Tejada who gave up three runs in the inning with one being charged to Davies.
In the sixth, the Royals got an RBI double from Alberto Callasop off reliever Matt Thornton, then Thornton walked Mike Aviles to load the bases with two outs, then Coco Crisp drew a walk to score a run. The Royals drew 11 walks on the night.
The Royals could have taken the lead in the 7th after scoring one run to the tie the game at 7-7, but Carlos Quentin threw out Maier at the plate on a sac fly attempt.
