Bergert deals 1st win with Royals behind contagious 8-run frame

CHICAGO -- After four consecutive starts with his new team pitching into the sixth inning but not finishing it, Ryan Bergert has wanted that quality start more and more.

He finally got it Wednesday, and a boatload of run support in the middle allowed him to pitch a little more relaxed to ensure he got all the way there.

The rookie starter tossed six strong innings of one-run ball to earn his first win as Royal in Kansas City’s 12-1 rout over the White Sox on Wednesday at Rate Field, taking the series and heading into Thursday’s off-day on a positive note.

“Finally, a quality start,” Bergert said with a grin. “Finally got past that sixth inning. It was really fun.”

Since being acquired at the Trade Deadline, Bergert has been outstanding in his five starts for the Royals, pitching to a 2.54 ERA. Each of his four starts before Wednesday, though, had been a no-decision -- and he wasn't able to finish the sixth, pitching 5 2/3 innings three times and 5 1/3 innings once.

As the Royals celebrated their series win before hopping on a plane back to Kansas City, the loudest cheer of the night could be heard coming from the visitors' clubhouse. That was for Bergert during the team celebration.

“Guys were messing with him,” Bobby Witt Jr. said. “He’s been pitching amazing for us, and just really hasn’t gotten the run support. Being able to put some runs on the board for him … [that] was what we needed to do.”

The Royals gave him run support and then some. Their eight runs in the fifth inning was a season high for a single inning, giving Bergert over 20 minutes of rest right in the middle of his outing.

Bergert had just allowed a homer to Andrew Benintendi in the fourth inning, but Royals catcher Salvador Perez responded immediately with a homer of his own to begin the fifth.

It didn’t stop there, and Perez was not done.

Twelve batters came to the plate in the fifth. Perez hit twice, clubbing a homer and a double to notch three RBIs in the frame alone, bringing his career total to 993, passing Amos Otis (992) for third most in franchise history. The home run brought him just four away from hitting No. 300 in his career, which would make him just the second Royal (George Brett, 317) to reach that mark.

“Every time you’re around big names like that, it feels amazing,” Perez said. “But I have always said [that] the win is more important.”

Winning is the only thing that matters right now for the Royals (69-65) as they try to make a playoff push. After a 3-3 road trip through Detroit and Chicago, they’re three games back of the third and final American League Wild Card spot after the Mariners (72-62) beat the Padres on Wednesday.

Kansas City did not gain ground or lose it this series, as all the attention now turns to this weekend's three-game set against the Tigers.

Responding the way the Royals did Wednesday to two disappointing offensive games was as important as anything. They didn’t score a run for the first 16 innings against the White Sox this series before the five runs they scored in the final two innings of Tuesday’s comeback win.

The series finale started out similarly, with four scoreless innings from White Sox starter Aaron Civale. The fifth inning changed all that.

“I don’t think we were necessarily ourselves the first two games,” Vinnie Pasquantino said. “And that happens sometimes. It just does. But I think we did a nice job tonight of collecting ourselves. It wasn’t a fast start, but very quickly, that game turned around.”

Perez homered. Witt drove in the go-ahead runs with a two-run single. Pasquantino added two more with his knock into right-center. Maikel Garcia walked and Perez kept it moving with his double. Adam Frazier doubled in another run.

“There were a lot of big parts to that inning,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Getting it started, getting on the board, that was big. … Bobby, two strikes. Vinnie against the lefty. Salvy coming back around. Each one of those runs are enormous because it gives you more time, more breathing room for Bergert to work.”

Bergert kept his arm loose a little bit during that eight-run inning, but mostly he just enjoyed the show. Then he worked through a jam in the fifth before an efficient 10-pitch sixth inning.

“It was really fun to be in the dugout when it was all going on,” Bergert said. “Everyone’s into the game. Everyone’s high-fiving and clapping, and just pretty fun.”