KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez threw out Alex Rios at the plate and picked off Alexei Ramirez at third base, and the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox kept missing chances Thursday night in a 4-3 loss to the Royals.

Eric Hosmer singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning. The White Sox stayed two games ahead of Detroit, which lost in the afternoon to Oakland, with 13 games remaining.

The White Sox wasted an early 3-0 lead and lost the sub-.500 Royals for the ninth time in their last 11 meetings.