Royals 3, White Sox 1: Jeremy Guthrie scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings and Nori Aoki had an RBI triple and scored a run as visiting Kansas City clinched its first postseason berth since 1985.

Lorenzo Cain and Billy Butler each added RBI singles to highlight a three-run first inning for the Royals, who trail American League Central-leading Detroit by one game but hold a one-game edge on Oakland to host a potential wild-card game. Alcides Escobar had a pair of singles and scored a run in the victory.

Alexei Ramirez had an RBI single in the eighth inning for the White Sox, who have dropped four in a row overall and 13 of the past 15 meetings at home versus Kansas City. Hector Noesi (8-12) suffered his third straight loss after allowing three runs on six hits in as many innings.

Guthrie (13-11) struck out six and notched his third straight victory. Wade Davis fanned three batters in the eighth before Greg Holland retired the side in the ninth for his 46th save.

The Royals jumped out of the blocks in a hurry as Aoki's triple to right off Noesi plated Escobar before a pair of singles to center boosted the lead to 3-0 in the first inning. Chicago answered in the eighth as Adam Eaton ripped a one-out triple before coming around to score on Ramirez's single to left.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Chicago chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said that the team will retire 1B Paul Konerko's No. 14 and a bronze statue will bear his likeness outside the stadium. Konerko went 0-for-4 as he wraps up his final homestand of his career. ... Cain went 1-for-4 to improve to 14-for-33 with six runs scored during his eight-game hitting streak. ... Hall of Famer George Brett, who is also Kansas City's vice president of baseball operations, was in attendance at U.S. Cellular Field.