Kansas  City,  MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Nori  Aoki went 2-for-4 and scored the 
deciding  run  in the  bottom of the  eighth inning that  gave the Kansas City 
Royals a 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox. 

Aoki  also had an RBI on a third-inning single, but it was his two-strike bunt 
base  hit with one out in the Royals' half of the eighth with the game knotted 
at 1-1 that turned into the game's pivotal moment. 

Alcides Escobar followed with a sharp double off Chicago starter Jose Quintana 
for  his  second hit  of the  night, which set  up Billy Butler's tie-breaking 
sacrifice fly that brought home Aoki without a throw. 

Quintana  (2-4), who entered the eighth having retired 10 straight Royals, was 
charged with all three runs over 7 1/3 innings in a hard-luck defeat. 

"(Quintana has) had some good starts and we haven't scored for him," White Sox 
designated hitter Paul Konerko Quintana said. 

Wade Davis (3-1) fanned two during a 1-2-3 top of the eighth to record the win 
in  relief  of Jeremy Guthrie, who  limited the White Sox to one run and just 
three hits over the first seven innings. 

Danny  Valencia also  drove in a run to  help Kansas City avoid a sweep of the 
three-game series. 

"It was nice to end the home series with a win," Guthrie said. 

Both  starters were on  top of their games for much of the contest, as Guthrie 
didn't  allow a  hit after the third  inning and Quintana set the side down in 
order in five of the first seven frames. 

Guthrie's  only  mistake was  a leadoff  walk to Adam  Dunn in  the top of the 
second.  Though Dunn  was erased  on  Alexei Ramirez's  fielder's choice,  the 
Chicago  shortstop stole  second and scored on Konerko's single to center that 
put the White Sox up 1-0. 

Quintana began his outing by recording seven straight outs until Pedro Ciriaco 
reached  on an infield  single in the third and moved to second on a groundout 
before beating the throw home on Aoki's two-out single to left. 

The  Royals  then loaded the  bases with  one out in  the fourth on singles by 
Butler,  Valencia and Lorenzo Cain, but Quintana got Ciriaco to bounce back to 
the mound for a 1-2-3 double play that maintained the 1-1 deadlock. 

Kansas  City  finally broke through behind  Aoki and Escobar's exploits in the 
eighth,  tacking on  another  run in  the inning  when  Chicago reliever  Jake 
Petricka walked Alex Gordon and Valencia to force in Escobar. 

The White Sox put two aboard against Greg Holland in the ninth, but the Royals 
closer  nailed  down his 13th save  by inducing a game-ending double-play ball 
from Ramirez. 

                                   Game Notes 

The  Royals  improved to 16-3  this season when Aoki  scores at least once ... 
Chicago's  Conor  Gillaspie extended his hitting  streak to eight games with a 
single  in his  first at-bat ... The White Sox released veteran infielder Jeff 
Keppinger  on Wednesday,  one week  after designating  him for  assignment ... 
Quintana fell to 0-4 in nine career starts against Kansas City.