A pair of four-run innings helped the Royals close out the road portion of the 1969 schedule with a 10-3 whipping of the White Sox at White Sox Park in Chicago.

Kansas City quickly jumped in front with one of those four-spots in the first inning. Scott Northey led off with a walk from Chicago starter Fred Rath and stole second with one out. With two outs, Ed Kirkpatrick hit a line drive into the gap in left-center. The ball eluded outfielders Ken Berry and Angel Bravo, and by the time they tracked it down, Kirkpatrick had circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run and a 2-0 lead. Jerry Adair singled and Bob Oliver hit a home run, this one over the fence, increasing the lead to 4-0.

The Royals would not score again until the fifth, when Kirkpatrick hit his second home run of the game and 12^th of the year. This was a solo blast off Rath.

Royals starter Mike Hedlund had pitched well for four innings with the comfortable lead, allowing just three hits over those frames. But the White Sox climbed back in the game with a big fifth inning. Bobby Knoop started things with a single. Berry put down a bunt, but Hedlund made a poor throw to first and both runners were safe. Doug Adams singled for one run, and Walt Williams reached on a bunt single to load the bases. Berry scored on a Luis Aparicio fly ball, and with two outs, Bill Melton singled to cut the Royals’ lead to 5-3. Reliever Moe Drabowsky entered the game and ended the inning by retiring Ed Herrmann.

But the Royals opened the game up with their other four-run inning, answering Chicago’s big inning with one of their own. With reliever Gary Peters taking over, Oliver led off with a single and stole second. After Fred Rico walked, Buck Martinez drove in one run with a single. With one out, Northey hit the only home run of his brief major league career. The three-run shot gave the Royals a 9-3 lead.

Kansas City added one more run in the seventh as Kirkpatrick, Oliver, and Rico singled. Drabowsky earned the win by pitching the rest of the game, holding Chicago to two hits over 4 2/3 innings.

The Royals ended their road schedule with a 33-48 record. They also ended the season series with Chicago with a 10-8 advantage. Overall, Kansas City was 66-93 and in fifth place in the AL West, 29 games behind Minnesota.

Box score and play-by-play: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA196909280.shtml

Today’s birthdays: Grant Jackson (1942), Pete Filson (1958), Chris Demaria (1980)