'He won that ballgame': Giolito's 9-K night

Right-hander Lucas Giolito showed once again why he is the ace of the White Sox pitching staff. He was masterful for six-plus innings as Chicago defeated the Royals, 5-3, on Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium. At 25-15, the White Sox are 10 games above .500 for the first time since May 2016.

• Box score

“The number will be what it is when the season is over,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “You can never rest on your laurels. You have to play every single day. That’s just the way it is. It’s what you have done for me lately.”

Giolito was dominant for the first six innings of his outing. After allowing a leadoff home run to Bubba Starling in the third, Giolito retired 12 of the next 13 hitters he faced. Before the seventh, Giolito struck out five of his last seven batters. His changeup did much of the damage, but he said he needed to be more consistent with his slider.

“The changeup felt good. It was mostly in the bottom of the zone,” Giolito said. “I got a good amount of swings and misses. I was also happy with the slider, aside from the few that I hung for the home run and the double that knocked me out of the game.”

At the start of the seventh frame, Giolito gave up a single and an RBI double to Ryan O’Hearn and Maikel Franco, respectively, before his night came to an end at 104 pitches.

“I felt pretty good about the outing,” Giolito said. “But I really wanted to get through the seventh, or at least get those first two guys that I faced. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. But the bullpen picked me up. The defense is kind of what we do.”

Chicago needed Giolito to go deep in the game because the bullpen had been taxed lately. It took four relievers, including closer Alex Colomé -- who picked up his ninth save of the season -- to finish out the game.

“Giolito did everything to give us a chance to win that ballgame. He won that ballgame,” Renteria said. “We needed an extended outing.”

Giolito was given plenty of run support. In the opening frame, first baseman José Abreu hit a monster two-run homer over the left-center-field wall to give Chicago the lead. Abreu has now hit in 19 straight games.

Four innings later, Yasmani Grandal gave Chicago a comfortable 5-1 lead by hitting another two-run homer.

The game could have been even closer if not for a spectacular catch by White Sox center fielder Luis Robert in the bottom of the ninth. Franco led off the inning for the Royals and hit a ball toward the right-center-field gap. It looked like a sure double, but Robert ran from left-center and made a diving catch. His athleticism prevented the tying run from coming to the plate.

• Robert lays out for clutch full-extension snag

“Just about every night he does something to make your jaws drop. I can’t say enough good things about him,” Giolito said. “The stuff you guys don’t see. How much work he puts in. How much he wants to learn. How much he wants to get better. He is an unbelievable player. He is only going to get better. I’m very happy he is on our team.”

With the victory, the White Sox remained in first place in the American League Central.