This time, Royals rough up Buehrle

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Mark Buehrle picked a terrible time for a poor start.

His Chicago White Sox teammates hit four home runs, twice going back-to-back on a muggy, sweltering Saturday afternoon. But the Kansas City Royals got 19 hits and hit three home runs themselves in a come-from-behind 9-7 win.

“Buehrle’s a great pitcher,” said Billy Butler, who had three hits, including a homer. “More times than not he’s had our number. To get on a guy like that, it just shows it was our day at the plate.”

Buehrle (8-10), a Royals nemesis much of his career, had his shortest and worst start of the year, giving up a season-high eight runs in 4 1/3 innings. He also hit a batter.

The 14 hits tied a career-high for the Buehrle, who’d been 6-3 with a 2.14 earned-run average in 10 previous starts and 17-7 against Kansas City.

“I don’t know if I could try to go out there and give up 14 hits,” Buehrle said. “It seems like I was making some pitches and they were hitting them, and then there were times when I was missing my spots and they were hitting them pretty hard. It just was one of those days.”