Thome, Konerko, Ramirez, Uribe hit four straight homers in White Sox win

CHICAGO -- Jim Thome's long three-run homer started it. Shortly after he returned to the dugout, the parade really got going.

Thome, Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Juan Uribe hit consecutive homers in the sixth inning to tie a major league record and the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 9-2 Thursday, completing a three-game sweep.

Thome and Konerko went deep on consecutive pitches from Joel Peralta, and Ramirez chased the right-hander with his 11th of the season. Robinson Tejeda entered and promptly gave up a longball to Juan Uribe, homerless in his previous 107 at-bats.

The back-to-back-to-back-to-back shots tied a major league record -- the sixth time it's been accomplished.

"It was great. We kind of exploded," said Thome, whose homer was his 25th of the season and No. 532 for his career.

"It was kind of cool to sit back there and watch all that happen."

Toby Hall came to bat with the chance to make it five straight but struck out to end the inning. Hall, who was with the Dodgers when they hit four straight homers against the Padres in 2006, admitted he was trying to get another.

"That was the first time that I tried doing it. I was all in," Hall said.

The Boston Red Sox were the last team to hit four straight, doing it against the New York Yankees on April 22, 2007.

The Royals were trailing 3-2 before Chicago's power surge made it 9-2 in a hurry.

"I don't believe I've ever seen that, especially between two pitchers," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "I don't believe I've ever seen four in a row between two pitchers and that many runs given up in a one-run ballgame with two outs."

"It's more of a quirky thing," Konerko said. "You see a lot of special things, whether it's a guy hitting his 500th home run. This was more like you probably won't see it again. You might see it once if you play the game for 10 or 15 years."

Peralta didn't enjoy being part of the record.

"The first two you don't feel it. The third one is the one you start feeling it, three in a row," he said. "That's the first time it's happened to me."

White Sox slugger Carlos Quentin extended a much more painful streak in the first inning, when he was hit by a pitch from Kyle Davies (5-4). Quentin, who leads the AL with 32 homers, has been plunked in his last six games and a major league-high 20 times this year.

"Carlos is a hit magnet. ... The way he hits, [he] stands over the plate," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "If Carlos gets hit the way he gets hit, I don't mind that. But if he gets hit the way I don't think he should get hit, then it's a problem."

Quentin, who sat out for two days after he was hit by Boston's Josh Beckett on Monday night, is the only player since 1920 to be hit by a pitch in six straight games, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

Lance Broadway (1-0) settled down after a shaky start and allowed two run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings to win his first start of the season. His reward: He was optioned back to Triple-A Charlotte after the game because the White Sox need another reliever.

"It's better than going back with a loss. I got up here, got a win, things are pretty good," Broadway said. "They need some bullpen help. It's fine with me."

Kansas City got to Broadway in the first after being shut out in the first two games of the series. Broadway allowed the first two batters to reach and Jose Guillen hit a one-out, two-run single.

Chicago responded in the second. Orlando Cabrera had an RBI single and Jermaine Dye added a two-out, two-run double to give the White Sox a 3-2 lead.

Notes:
Alex Gordon had a 13-pitch at-bat in the first inning, including seven foul balls. He eventually grounded out to end the inning but ran Broadway's opening-inning pitch count all the way to 26. ... White Sox OF Nick Swisher was out of the starting lineup. He will make his return to Oakland this weekend for the first time since he was traded from the A's to the White Sox in the offseason. ... Royals OF David DeJesus, who is mired in a 1-for-16 slump since missing five games with a sore lower back, was given the day off.