The Royals pounded out 20 hits and got a solid starting effort from Rich Gale in an 8-2 victory over the White Sox at Chicago’s Comiskey Park.

Every Royals starter except Clint Hurdle had a hit, and six different Royals had more than one. Darrell Porter went 4-5 with a home run and a double, Hal McRae went 5-5 with two stolen bases and two runs scored, Willie Wilson went 3-5, and George Brett went 2-5.

The White Sox actually had a 1-0 lead after one inning, as Gale struggled with his control. He walked three batters in the inning, including a bases-loaded pass to Chet Lemon to bring in the game’s first run. But Gale recovered to retire 17 of the next 19 batters he faced before turning the game over to reliever Marty Pattin. Gale only allowed two hits and four walks while picking up four strikeouts.

The Royals answered the White Sox’ run in the first with four in the second against Chicago starter Steve Trout. McRae began the inning with a single and a steal of second, and then moved to third on a wild pitch. John Wathan’s single scored him. One out later, Porter homered for a 3-1 lead. After Hurdle lined out to right, the Royals got consecutive singles from Frank White, Wilson, and U L Washington for an additional run.

McRae also singled leading off the third inning, and with two outs he stole second. That allowed him to score on Porter’s single to center, upping the lead to 5-1.

Kansas City scored one more run in the fifth and probably could have had more. Brett started the inning with a single to right. McRae followed with a single, then tried to move up to second when the White Sox attempted to throw Brett out at third. Brett was safe but the throw back to second beat McRae. Wathan followed with a double that only scored one run instead of two, and Wathan was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Amos Otis followed with a single that could have brought in another run had Wathan stayed at second. Porter singled as well, but Hurdle grounded out to end the inning.

The Royals added single runs in the sixth and the eighth. In both innings, a McRae single scored Wilson, and the Royals had an 8-1 lead going to the bottom of the eighth. Chicago scored one run that inning but Pattin retired the final two hitters and set the White Sox down in order in the ninth.

The win improved the Royals to 64-39 on the season, and they held a commanding 12.5-game lead over Oakland in the AL West.

George Brett watch: 2-5 with a run scored, moving his hitting streak to 15 games. Season stats: .388/.449/.665

Box score and play-by-play:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA198008020.shtml

Today’s birthdays: Tom Burgmeier (1943), Bombo Rivera (1952), Derek Botelho (1956), Humberto Quintero (1979), Onelki Garcia (1989)