Rios beats tag in 8th, Royals sweep White Sox

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Rios beat the tag at the plate on a grounder in the eighth inning and the Kansas City Royals edged the Chicago White Sox 5-4 Sunday for a three-game sweep.

The Royals have won three straight games by one run for the first time since August 2012.

Kendrys Morales hits a 3-run homer to put the Royals up 3-0 Sunday vs. Chicago. (Chris Vleisides) — Kendrys Morales hits a 2-run homer to put the Royals up 3-0 Sunday vs. Chicago. (Chris Vleisides)

Kendrys Morales hit a two-run homer that put Kansas City ahead 3-0 in the first.

It was 4-all in the eighth when Rios singled with one out off Jeff Petricka (3-3) and Paulo Orlando followed with a ground-rule double. Omar Infante hit a grounder to first baseman Jose Abreu, and Rios slid home ahead of the tag.

Kelvin Herrera (3-2) picked up the victory despite blowing a save and giving up the tying run in the eighth on Melky Cabrera’s RBI single with two outs. Ryan Madson pitched a spotless ninth to earn his second save in four chances.