Near-historic day for White Sox in win vs. KC

Even before the White Sox took the field for an 11-5 victory over the Royals on Saturday at Kauffman Stadium, the organization made history as the first Major League team to have a Cuban-born player in each of the first four spots of the batting order.

Then, a few White Sox players came up just short of making history themselves.

Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert each finished a triple away from hitting for the cycle, as the White Sox won their third straight game and evened their season record at 4-4. Robert, who hit leadoff for the first time in his big league career, tallied four hits including a home run and two doubles.

Rookie right-hander Matt Foster made his Major League debut and picked up his first career strikeout and his first career victory in relief of starter Gio González. The veteran lefty didn’t allow a run over 3 2/3 innings but yielded to Jimmy Cordero at 77 pitches with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth. Cordero retired Whit Merrifield on an infield popup to end the threat.