Lopez rights ship, Eloy powers way to series win

KANSAS CITY -- For the second day in a row, power pitching and the power of Eloy Jiménez served the White Sox quite well.

Right-hander Reynaldo López bounced back from three tough starts with six innings of solid work and Jimenez got the White Sox going with a mammoth 471-foot homer to dead center field as Chicago took a 5-2 victory on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium.

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Jimenez has eight homers and two of them have come in the last two games while serving as the foundation of the Chicago offense. Coming off a two-run opposite-field homer to right that provided all the scoring on Saturday, Jimenez took aim at the center-field scoreboard in the second inning Sunday against Royals starter Glenn Sparkman. The straightaway blast was the longest at Kauffman Stadium this year and the longest for the White Sox in 2019.

According to Statcast, the Jimenez homer was 11 feet shy of the longest homers in Major League Baseball this year. Ketel Marte and Nomar Mazara have each been credited with 482-foot homers.

All eight homers by the right-handed-hitting Jimenez have come against right-handers and all have come on the road.

“I was just trying to hit a line drive through the middle,” Jimenez said. “He hung one.”

White Sox manager Rick Renteria said Jimenez’s tape-measure shot was impressive, but Renteria never saw it land.

“I lost it,” Renteria said. “I didn’t know if it hit the water. His growth and development will show as he continues to play and improve. I don’t think anybody doubts what he’s going to be capable of doing as he moves forward.”

Jimenez recalled hitting a ball farther, but that was in a Spring Training game in Arizona when he was in the Cubs’ organization in 2017.

“That was 490 feet,” Jimenez said.

Lopez, who came in with a 12.83 ERA over his last three starts, limited the Royals to four hits and one run before the White Sox bullpen took it the rest of the way. Lopez struck out eight, which tied his second-highest total this season.

“Today was a step forward,” Lopez said through a translator. “All my pitches were good today. I was able to command and execute and finish all my pitches.”

The only glitch for Lopez came in the fourth when Jorge Soler hit a 455-foot solo homer.

Yoán Moncada tied his career high with a four-hit day. Moncada also had four hits on Sept. 14, 2017, at Detroit.

After dropping the opening three games of their road trip, the White Sox recovered to win the last two and claim the Kansas City series.

“A series win is big,” Renteria said. “Lopez set the tone with the way he was pitching.”