CHICAGO — Chicago lived up to its “Windy City” moniker on Wednesday.

Winds swirled around 20 mph at Guaranteed Rate Field as the Kansas City Royals faced the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of a straight doubleheader. The conditions factored into a low-scoring affair.

But they couldn’t stop Salvador Perez.

The Royals captain returned from a mild groin strain to hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning. The Royals picked up a 4-2 victory on a day when both the hitting and pitching labored some.

White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon silenced the Royals offense. Cannon, who made his Major League Baseball debut, fared well in his outing. He limited the Royals to one run, an Adam Frazier RBI single, in the second inning.

The rookie hurler struck out three batters and threw 54 of 79 pitches for strikes in five innings.

The Royals generated seven hits. However, KC saved its best offense for the late innings.

Perez’s 431-foot blast gave the Royals a late lead and took Brady Singer off the hook for the loss.

Singer labored through five innings. He earned a no-decision after allowing two runs in his outing. The Royals bullpen kept things close by allowing one hit and striking out three batters in the final four innings.

In the ninth, Hunter Renfroe added an insurance run with a solo homer. Royals reliever James McArthur nailed down his fourth save as KC improved to 12-6.

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