KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Jermaine Dye, Joe Crede and Alex Cintron homered to lead the Chicago White Sox to an 8-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Dye hit a solo shot, his 29th, with one out in the third inning off Runelvys Hernandez. Dye has hit nine home runs in his last 28 games and is four shy of his career-best 33 in 2000, when he played for the Royals. Dye, who also hit one Sunday at Baltimore, has homered in consecutive games six times this season.

Two batters later, Crede hit his 22nd homer following a single by Ross Gload. Crede, who is from Westphalia, Mo., about 180 miles from Kansas City, has 13 home runs and 33 RBIs in his last 37 games.

Cintron, who had three hits, homered in the second after Scott Podsednik had singled with two outs.

Jose Contreras, who had lost his previous three starts after having his 17-game winning snapped on July 14, earned the victory. Contreras (10-3) started shaky, allowing three runs in the first two innings, but settled down, retiring 11 straight at one point before Joey Gathright’s infield single in the sixth.

Contreras went seven innings, giving up four runs, three earned, nine hits and two walks, striking out three.

Hernandez (2-6) was pulled after three innings, giving up eight runs and eight hits, including the three home runs, and two walks. Hernandez also had two balks in the first inning.

In the White Sox’s three-run first, A.J. Pierzynski had an RBI single, his ninth hit in 10 at-bats. Cintron, who had singled, scored on Hernandez’s second balk with Dye batting. Pierzynski scored on Gload’s infield single.

The Royals scored two runs in the bottom of the first. Shane Costa’s single scored Mark Grudzielanek with the first run. Esteban German was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Mark Teahen with the second.

The Royals scored an unearned run in the second after a throwing error by shortstop Juan Uribe allowed David DeJesus to reach base. Emil Brown’s single drove in DeJesus.

Gathright stole second after his single in the sixth inning and scored on John Buck’s single.

Notes: Teahen was named the AL Player of the Week, hitting .400 with three homers and eight RBIs. He is the first Royal to win the award this season. … RHP Scott Dohmann, who was acquired in a trade earlier Monday with the Rockies, arrived at Kauffman Stadium in the sixth inning … The White Sox have homered in 17 of their past 18 games, 34 total. They hit 49 home runs in July. … The White Sox improved to 7-3 against the Royals.

AP-ES-07-31-06 2255EDT

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