The Chicago White Sox battered three Royals pitchers for 12 hits in an 8-4 win on a Tuesday night at Royals Stadium.

Kansas City’s Marty Pattin, making his first start of the season after three relief appearances, allowed single runs in each of the first three innings. Alan Bannister and Richie Zisk each doubled in the first inning. A Chet Lemon double and Jack Brohamer single in the second produced another run, and Bannister led off the third with a single and eventually scored on Jim Spencer’s single.

White Sox starter Chris Knapp wasn’t exactly effective, either. After George Brett doubled to lead off the first and Hal McRae singled, Knapp hit Tom Poquette with a pitch to load the bases. But he escaped with minimal damage; John Mayberry made the first out on a popup. Darrell Porter hit a sacrifice fly, and Amos Otis grounded out, ending the inning with the score 1-1.

The Royals tied the score again in the third. Brett started the inning with a single and advanced to third on two groundouts. Mayberry singled to score him, and after Porter walked, Otis singled to make the score 3-3, although Porter was thrown out at third to end the inning.

Kansas City then grabbed the lead in the fourth. Al Cowens led off with a double and stole third with one out. Frank White drew a walk, ending Knapp’s outing. Relief pitcher Dave Hamilton retired Brett but McRae singled for a 4-3 advantage.

But the lead was short-lived. Steve Mingori, who had finished the third inning and pitched a perfect fourth, allowed a single to Bannister with one out in the fifth. With two outs, Zisk homered, his league-leading eighth of the season, and Chicago had a 5-4 lead.

The White Sox tacked on three runs in the eighth against Royals reliever Doug Bird. Lemon drove in two runs with a triple and scored on a groundout. 

Off the field, the Royals announced that Porter and Jim Colborn were the team’s player and pitcher of the month, respectively, for April. Porter hit .365/.443/.519 for the month, while Colborn went 4-1 with a 2.19 ERA. Both players had been acquired in an offseason trade with the Brewers, which certainly looked like a good deal for Kansas City a month into the season. The Royals also activated infielder Dave Nelson from the disabled list. That filled out the roster at 25 players; the team had been playing with 24 since putting pitcher Andy Hassler on the list on May 1; he had a bruised knee after being hit with a line drive on April 26.

Box score and play-by-play:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA197705030.shtml

Today’s birthdays: Bob Buchanan (1961), Homer Bailey (1986), Mike Morin (1991), Amir Garrett (1992)