Crede, White Sox need 10 innings to dispatch Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The crowd of 11,609 at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday night included a personal cheering section for Chicago White Sox third baseman Joe Crede.

Crede is from Westphalia, Mo., about 175 miles east of Kansas City, and many of the hometown folks show up when the White Sox play the Royals.

He certainly gave them a thrill.

Crede went 4-for-5 with a homer and singled in the go-ahead run in a three-run 10th inning Tuesday night, sending Chicago to a 7-5 victory.

Sandy Alomar also drove in two runs and Crede scored three times for the White Sox, who got a solid start from struggling lefty Mark Buehrle.

Crede is hitting .381 with four home runs and 13 RBI against the Royals this season.

"There's a few people that came up from my hometown. It's always fun to play in front of them and to have a lot of fans. It's good to see family and friends supporting you from back home," he said. "I don't know what it is, whether it is family or friends. I like the hitting background here. I see better here than most ballparks where you always have the scoreboard or something else out in center field. If I knew what it was, I'd take it to every ballpark."

Reggie Sanders and Angel Berroa homered for Kansas City.

Scott Podsednik led off the 10th with a walk, moved to second on a balk by Ambiorix Burgos (2-4) and scored on Crede's single up the middle. Crede came around on Ross Gload's two-out double, and Brian Anderson added an RBI single.

Crede homered leading off the fourth against Odalis Perez to tie the score at 1. Crede, who also homered on Monday, has connected in consecutive games four times this season. He set a career high with his 23rd home run.

"I wouldn't say it means as much as a win means tonight," Crede said. "I put personal goals aside for the team. Last year I felt like I hit .300 and 30 home runs, winning the World Series. Everything kind of falls at the wayside when you win."

Crede's four-hit game matched his career high and was his third of the season.

David Riske (1-2) induced a double-play grounder to get the White Sox out of a jam in the eighth and struck out the side in the ninth. Bobby Jenks allowed a solo homer to Berroa before finishing for his 29th save in 31 opportunities.

Mark Teahen's double off left-hander Matt Thornton, the fourth White Sox pitcher, scored David DeJesus and Mark Grudzielanek in the eighth to tie the score at 4. After Sanders' single moved Teahen to third, Riske replaced Thornton and on his first pitch got Emil Brown to ground into an inning-ending double play.

"I had a feeling he was going to be very aggressive with a guy on third," Riske said. "I threw him a splitter and got him to roll over and that was huge."

Teahen, who had three hits, was stranded on third.

"We were hoping to get something in the air, something other than that," Royals manager Buddy Bell said.

Buehrle, who was 0-5 with an 11.48 ERA in five July starts, went six innings and allowed two runs and four hits. Buehrle, who retired his final 10 batters, left with a 3-2 lead.

"It's just one start, but going into my next start I've got a little confidence going," Buehrle said. "Even though I pitched good, now I've still got to go out and still work on some stuff."

The White Sox broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth. Paul Konerko was hit by Scott Dohmann's pitch to start the inning, stopped at third on Crede's double and scored on Alex Cintron's single. Konerko left the game with a bruise above his left elbow and was taken for X-rays.

Dohmann, obtained in a four-player trade on Monday with Colorado, made his Royals debut, allowing one run and three hits in 1 1-3 innings.

Perez, making his first start for the Royals since being acquired July 25 in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, went four innings and allowed two runs and three hits. He struck out four and walked two. Perez, who threw 69 pitches, was on a pitch limit. He had not thrown more than 41 pitches in five relief appearances for the Dodgers in July, and his previous start was June 28 at Minnesota.

The Royals went up 2-0 in the first on Sanders' 10th home run after Teahen singled. Sanders, who homered in his first at-bat since coming off the disabled list on Monday, is the only active player to have double-figure home runs in the past 15 seasons.

Alomar's double scored Crede, who opened the second with a double, with the first White Sox run.

Chicago added an unearned run in the eighth. Cintron had a two-out bunt single and went to second on Teahen's throwing error. Alomar's single scored Cintron.

Game notes
Perez became the 15th starter used by the Royals, and Dohmann became their 26th pitcher this season. The Royals' record for pitchers used in a season was 29 in 2003. ... RHP Mike MacDougal, traded by the Royals last week to Chicago, worked a scoreless seventh.