Pitching and power a winning formula for White Sox

KANSAS CITY -- For the first time in September, the White Sox managed to put stout starting pitching and quick-strike power together. It proved to be a winning combination.

With Touki Toussaint allowing just two runs on two hits and three walks over six innings and the White Sox clubbing three homers for the second night in a row, the 0-5 September skid came to a halt as Chicago held on for a 6-4 victory over the Royals on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Andrew Vaughn, Yoán Moncada and Oscar Colás all went deep to highlight a Chicago offense that had just enough margin for error to put Toussaint in the win column. The White Sox also hit three homers on Tuesday, but the pitching didn’t hold up.

This time, it did.

Toussaint set the tone. His only pitching glitch was surrendering a two-run homer to Nelson Velázquez in the fourth that put Kansas City up 2-1.

But the middle of the White Sox order got busy with some power hitting in the sixth off Kansas City starter Jordan Lyles. After Luis Robert Jr. doubled with one out, Vaughn put the White Sox on top with a two-run homer into the left-field stands. The Royals went to the bullpen, but Moncada followed with a Statcast-projected 433-foot homer on the first pitch from Tucker Davidson. A solo shot by Colás off Davidson in the seventh made things easier for the Chicago bullpen.

The White Sox have put an emphasis on lifting the ball. The six homers over a two-night span have given manager Pedro Grifol some reason for encouragement.

“Stay away from the ground,” Grifol said. “There’s no money in the ground. We have to put the ball up in the air. Crooked numbers happen when you put the ball in the air and you have that kind of pop.”

Toussaint put himself in jeopardy in the first when he threw a potential double-play ball into center field, putting runners at first and third with one out. But Toussaint promptly got Freddy Fermin to bounce into a double play.

“Definitely huge,” Toussaint said. “Throwing a ball away like that … things can speed up on you. But I was able to get a ground ball and get out of it.”

On a night when Tim Anderson was scratched from the lineup because of a stiff neck, Elvis Andrus filled in at shortstop and got four hits from the leadoff spot. Veteran reliever Bryan Shaw closed it out in the ninth with a strikeout of Kyle Isbel, who represented the tying run.

“The stretch we have been through lately has been subpar,” Shaw said. “To have a good outing by the starter and everybody else pitch in, we needed that for sure. It picks up the team. We go into the off-day with some energy and momentum.”

Toussaint’s quality start was the first for the White Sox since Mike Clevinger allowed one run over seven innings on Aug. 27 against Oakland.

“I was executing when I needed to,” Toussaint said. “I was behind a lot of guys, but got some weak contact when I needed it. This was a good team win. It changes the vibe up a little bit.”