ROUNDUP

at Chicago 12, Kansas City 2: Jim Thome’s 36th homer capped an eight-run fourth inning and led the White Sox to their fifth straight victory. The defending World Series champions have won six of seven and 12 of their last 17, having swept the Detroit Tigers over the weekend. Jon Garland (13-4), whose eight-game winning streak ended in his previous outing, against the New York Yankees, gave up seven hits and a run in seven innings. He is 13-5 in his career against Kansas City, the most victories he has against any opponent. Thome started the outburst against Mark Redman (7-7) with a single in the fourth and then drove him out with a two-run homer later in the inning. The White Sox sent 11 batters to the plate in the fourth.

Detroit 7, at Boston 4: Curtis Granderson tripled against Josh Beckett on the first pitch of the game, and the Tigers went on to stop their season-worst losing streak at five. After being swept at Chicago over the weekend, the Tigers played like the team with the best record in the major leagues. Boston, which had won three straight, fell two games behind the Yankees in the AL East. Granderson’s hit keyed a three-run first inning against Beckett (13-7). That was plenty for Nate Robertson, who began the game with the third-lowest support in the AL, with 3.66 runs per game. Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his 32nd save in 35 tries.