11-run 5th, Vazquez's 13 K's power White Sox

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Javier Vazquez didn't swing a bat during Chicago's 11-run fifth, but he enjoyed watching the inning more than anyone.

Jermaine Dye, Danny Richar and Josh Fields homered during the big inning, which provided more than enough offense for the White Sox starter as Chicago beat the Kansas City Royals 11-3 on Monday night.

"It makes my life a little bit easier out there," said Vazquez, who worked eight innings and struck out a season high 13. "The guys did an outstanding job that inning to get some runs. Josh is going to be a great hitter -- he's already shown what he can do. Richar is an exciting player. We're happy to have them both."

Chicago, which sent 14 men to the plate, had its biggest inning since an 11-run third at St. Louis on June 20 last year. It was the most runs in an inning off Kansas City since an 11-run first at Cleveland on Aug. 13 last year and was one shy of the club record.

Richar also tripled during the inning, which included two doubles, four singles, one intentional walk and two wild pitches. Darin Erstad grounded out twice for two of the outs.

Kansas City led 2-0 before Kyle Davies gave up Richar's leadoff homer, Fields' two-run double and Dye's three-run homer, which put Chicago ahead 6-2.

"It was a wild game, kind of a weird inning," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We swung the bats good that inning and that's the reason we beat them. I don't think I've ever seen that."

Brandon Duckworth allowed Juan Uribe's RBI double, Richar's run-scoring triple, Alex Cintron's sacrifice fly and Fields' two-run homer to complete the outburst.

"We just saw the ball good that inning," Dye said. "Guys came up with a lot of big hits for us. We haven't had too many innings like that this year. It's good to see us do something like that. After that inning, Javier went out and pitched like it was a zero-zero game."

The 13 strikeouts by Vazquez (13-8) were one shy of his career high. He allowed two runs and five hits without a walk, retiring 21 of the last 23 batters he faced after Alex Gordon homered in the second.

"My fastball was pretty good tonight and my off-speed pitches were good," Vazquez said. "The most important thing is to command your pitches, throw strikes and be aggressive, and I think I was doing that."

Every starter but Erstad had a hit for the White Sox. Cintron and Richar had three each.

"I don't know if the [Richar] home run rattled Kyle, but he started pitching behind," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "It happened quick. Chicago has a veteran team. If you don't pitch well against them, they're going to do damage."

Davies (2-6) allowed only two hits and no runs through the first four innings before Chicago got into a groove. He ended up allowing six runs and seven hits while walking three and striking out four to lose for the sixth time in seven starts.

"I felt fine through four innings," Davies said. "My pitch count was still low. I came out in the fifth and they hit everything I threw up there. The pitch to Dye was exactly where I wanted to throw it -- up and in and he hits it."

Duckworth, who replaced Davies, faced seven White Sox and five of them scored. He threw two wild pitches and gave up five hits, including Fields' 20th home run to lead all American League rookies.

The Royals lost for the 10th time in 12 games and fell a half-game behind the White Sox and into last place in the AL Central.

Ross Gload doubled before Gordon hit his 15th homer in the second. Rookie Billy Butler homered in the ninth, his seventh of the year.

Game notes
Royals DH Mike Sweeney sat out his third straight game with tightness in his right groin. ... White Sox CF Jerry Owens stole his 28th base, which leads all major league rookies. ... Richar's three hits was a career high.