AL | Jose Guillen throw takes starch out of Sox

Jose Guillen's right arm saved the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

Guillen charged an eighth-inning single and threw a strike to catcher Miguel Olivo to nail A.J. Pierzynski at the plate, helping the Royals beat the White Sox 8-7 in Chicago.

Royals rookie shortstop Mike Aviles has seen Guillen throw before, but didn't think he had a chance to stop Pierzynski from scoring on Brian Anderson's single to left.

"Everybody in the whole entire league knows that he has a cannon for an arm," Aviles said of Guillen. "He came in charging hard and made a great throw home. That was a big momentum swing."

Pierzynski saw third-base coach Jeff Cox waving him home.

"I know Guillen has one of the best arms in baseball," Pierzynski said. "My job is to run until somebody stops me. Cox was waving me and [Guillen] threw a perfect throw."

The 32-year-old Guillen signed with the Royals in the offseason after hitting .290 with 99 runs batted in for the Mariners last year. He entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the top of the eighth — just in time to ruin White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen's day in Chicago's half of the inning.

"We played terrible," the irritable Guillen said. "Kansas City showed up to kick our butts and they did."

Baltimore: The Orioles' 15-game skid on Sundays is the longest on any given day since Arizona dropped 15 in a row on Saturdays in 2004, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Baltimore has been outscored 81-41 in Sunday games since winning its first one of the season, at home against the Mariners.

Boston: 2B Dustin Pedroia, had three hits against the Angels, lifting his average to .322. He has hit safely in 22 of his last 23 games.

Chicago: OF Jermaine Dye was hit in the right knee by a pitch. X-rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day. ... RHP Jose Contreras (7-6, 4.60 ERA) was placed on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in his right elbow.

Detroit: OF Marcus Thames doubled and homered against Baltimore and has 26 extra-base hits among his last 40.

Minnesota: Manager Ron Gardenhire has decided to keep OF Carlos Gomez in the leadoff spot, mostly to preserve his confidence. Gomez was in a 3-for-44 slump until hitting two doubles Saturday.

Oakland: RHP Justin Duchscherer, who has been battling a virus for about a week, was a hard-luck loser to the Yankees. The AL's ERA leader still hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in a game this season.

Tampa Bay: Closer Troy Percival, out since July 2 with a strained left hamstring, was activated from the DL and pitched a scoreless ninth. ... 3B Evan Longoria has 18 homers. The only AL rookie with more on July 20 in the last 20 years was Angels slugger Tim Salmon (20 in 1993).

Toronto: OF Alex Rios showed signs of ending his power outage. He hadn't homered in 71 at-bats before going 3 for 5 with two doubles and a home run against Tampa Bay on Sunday.

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