Andrew Vaughn's blast helps White Sox defeat Royals

Andrew Vaughn's two-run homer broke a 1-1 tie and helped lift the host Chicago White Sox to a 7-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday afternoon in the finale of a three-game series.

The White Sox claimed the series with the victory, but the Royals still won the season series 10-9.

The White Sox improved to 2-4 on their nine-game homestand, with the Minnesota Twins coming to town for a critical three-game series starting Friday. The White Sox are 4 1/2 games behind first-place Cleveland, pending the Guardians' game against the Orioles on Thursday evening. They trail the second-place Twins by three games.

Johnny Cueto (7-6), who helped the Royals win the 2015 World Series, defeated his old club. He gave up one run on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He didn't walk a batter and struck out five.

Daniel Mengden (0-1), one of two September call-ups by the Royals, lasted just 2 2/3 innings. He was sharp in the first two innings but ran into trouble in the third. He allowed three runs on five hits.

The Royals got on the board in the third inning on a groundout by MJ Melendez. Drew Waters, who ended the bottom of the second with a possible home-run-saving catch in right field, led off with a single. He went to third on a single by Nicky Lopez. Melendez grounded to second and beat the relay throw to first.

The White Sox answered in the bottom of the third. Leury Garcia led off with a single. He scored later in the inning on Elvis Andrus' single and then Vaughn launched the next pitch several rows back in the left-field seats to give the White Sox a 3-1 lead. It was his 15th blast of the season.

The White Sox added a pair of runs in the sixth. Gavin Sheets walked leading off and he went to second on a one-out single against the shift by AJ Pollock. Garcia then singled up the middle, scoring Sheets. Romy Gonzalez then drove in Pollock with a single.

Pollock added a two-run home run in the eighth. It was his 10th of the campaign.