KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tim Anderson was the spark plug. Luis Robert was the big engine that could.
Reaching base in each of his first four times to bat with two singles and two walks, driving in two runs and stealing two bases, Anderson had his second straight big game in a row. Robert, after striking out three times the night before, had two RBI singles, was hit by a pitch and gave the Sox a two-run lead with a 415-foot two-run homer in the eighth inning of a 7-4 victory against the Royals Thursday.
Robert, who finished with four RBI, knocked in Anderson after Anderson walked against Royals starter Carlos Hernandez and stole two bases.
The result gave the Sox three wins in a five-game series and brought them back to .500 heading into a weekend series in New York against the Yankees.
On a day the Sox were leaving runs on the table left and right — they had 13 hits and walked five times — Robert finally created some space against the Royals (14-23) connecting against Dylan Coleman for his team-high sixth long ball.
Robert also took over the team lead in RBI with 17.
Adam Engel’s pinch single in the seventh broke a 4-all tie.
Third baseman Emmanuel Rivera’s stab of Anderson’s liner in the eighth prevented Anderson from reaching base a fifth time in five plate appearances.
Vince goes 5, pen does rest
Right-hander Vince Velasquez allowed four runs in five innings, two on a homer by Hunter Dozier in the first after Bobby Witt Jr. beat out an overturned double play. Bennett Sousa, Joe Kelly, Kendall Graveman and closer Liam Hendriks each pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Hendriks recorded his 12th save but not before the Royals brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth on singles by Kyle Isbel and Nicky Lopez.
Up next
Friday starter Dallas Keuchel, who opens a three-game series in New York, is 4-4 with a 2.06 ERA average over 10 career starts against the Yankees.
