KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) MJ Melendez broke an eighth-inning tie with a single to help the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Friday night.

With one out, Melendez hit a soft liner to left off Michael Kopech (0-1) to score pinch-runner Dairon Blanco.

Chris Stratton (1-0) worked a scoreless eighth for the victory.

In the ninth inning, Luis Robert Jr. doubled down the left-field line with one out, pulling up lame at second with a left hip flexor injury. Robert suffered a similar injury in 2021, missing over three months of the season.

James McArthur entered the game with the tying run at second and induced an ending double-play grounder for his first save.

ā€œIt was a hard-fought game,ā€ White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. ā€œWe really didnā€™t get much going until the later innings. We had a couple of opportunities to do something and didnā€™t capitalize.ā€

The Royals opened the scoring in the first inning on the first of Salvador PĆ©rezā€™s three hits, a two-out RBI double off the top of the wall in center. PĆ©rez is tied for second in the American League with nine RBIs.

Melendez, PĆ©rez, and Bobby Witt Jr. rank among AL leaders in slugging, homers, and OPS.

ā€œLast season, I faced immense pressure to perform at the plate, which affected my mental preparationā€ Melendez said. ā€œI made adjustments in the second half of the season and worked on my swing during the offseason.ā€

Gavin Sheets tied it with a leadoff homer in the second, lifting starter Brady Singerā€™s slider 391 feet down the line in right.

After the homer, Singer retired the next 15 hitters consecutively on 48 pitches, striking out four and getting nine ground balls.

ā€œWe made a lot of quick outs,ā€ Grifol said. ā€œGot to give credit to Singer. He was really pounding the strike zone, keeping the ball down (with) heavy sink. He was a ground-ball machine today.ā€

Singer faced two more than the minimum in completing 6 1/3 innings, while allowing a run on two hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

Royals starters lead the majors with seven quality starts.

White Sox starter Erick Fedde worked five innings, allowing a run on six hits and two walks, with four strikeouts. He exited in the sixth after allowing a leadoff hit to PĆ©rez and a walk to Melendez.

Reliever John Brebbia retired the next two batters, leaving after injuring his right calf while fielding a soft grounder. Steven Wilson struck out Hunter Renfroe to end the threat, stranding a runner at third.

Chicago has played five one-run games, losing four.

TRAINERā€™S ROOM

White Sox OF Eloy JimƩnez was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Tuesday because of a left adductor strain.

TRANSACTIONS

The White Sox selected the contract of OF Robbie Grossman from Triple-A Charlotte and designated RHP Alex Speas for assignment.

UP NEXT

White Sox RHP Chris Flexen (0-1, 8.31) opposes Royals RHP Michael Wacha (0-0, 5.40) Saturday night.

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