MLB: Kansas City 9, Chicago White Sox 5

CHICAGO, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Tony Pena smacked a home run and his four hits matched his career best as the Kansas City Royals rallied past the Chicago White Sox 9-5 Tuesday.

The Royals' offense also benefited by Russ Gload's 2 RBI, and two hits each from Joey Gathright, Mark Teahen and Emil Brown. Royals had lost three of their previous four games.

Brandon Duckworth (3-5) pitched two scoreless innings of relief for the win, capping a strong performance by the Kansas City bullpen after starter Brian Bannister allowed five runs on four hits in just 2/3 of an inning.

Paul Konerko had two hits and two RBI while A.J. Pierzynski had two hits and drove in a run for the White Sox, who have lost two in a row.

Chicago starter Jose Contreras went 6 1/3 frames, yielding five runs -- four earned -- on six hits. But the loss went to reliever Ehren Wasserman (0-1), who gave up the tying and go-ahead runs in a four-run Kanas City seventh.