A quick look at the Chicago White Sox's 4-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.

How it happened: Paul Konerko hit a solo homer in his return from a concussion, but it wasn’t enough for the Sox in the opener. Salvadore Perez's double to deep left off Chris Sale scored Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar in the seventh with the game-winning runs. Sale exited after the double, allowing four runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked four. Gordon Beckham drove in Alexei Ramirez for the other Sox run.

What it means: The AL-Central leading White Sox are now 4-6 against the fourth-place Royals this season. The Sox’s lead over the Detroit Tigers is now 1.5 games.

Outside the box: In addition to activating Konerko Friday, the White Sox brought up Hector Santiago from Triple-A Charlotte and put Orlando Hudson (bruised left foot) and Leyson Septimo (left biceps inflammation) on the 15-day DL.

What’s next: The White Sox send Jake Peavy (9-8, 3.04 ERA) to the mound on Saturday against the Royals’ Bruce Chen (8-10, 5.56) in a 6:10 CT start.