CHICAGO -- Whit Merrifield delivered in the ideal scenario for the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.

With pinch runner Terrance Gore at second and Jarrod Dyson on first after a walk in the seventh inning, the Royals' second baseman lined a double to center field off reliever Chris Beck to score both teammates.

The runs put Kansas City ahead for good en route to a 6-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

"We knew we had a situation with our two fastest runners on base and if we could find a spot to get the ball in the crease somewhere that the opportunity of us a lead was probably pretty good," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Whit came up and smoked the ball in the left-center field gap and it worked out perfectly."

The win snapped a two-game losing streak and kept the Royals (73-68) in the hunt for an American League wild-card spot.

Kansas City reliever Kevin McCarthy (1-0) struck out the lone batter he faced in the sixth and earned the victory.

Still, the Royals and closer Wade Davis had a nervous ninth before finally locking down the win.

Davis gave up back-to-back hits and had White Sox runners on second and third and none out.

Davis struck out Tim Anderson but gave up an infield hit to Melky Cabrera that scored Tyler Saladino from third. Davis came back to strike out Jose Abreu and Justin Morneau to claim his 23rd save.

"You don't really get that many opportunities against Wade," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "I think that he's so good in tough situations that he just ended up coming out on top. We had our opportunity."

Reliever Chris Beck (2-2) worked one-third of the seventh inning and took the loss after giving up three runs on two hits for the White Sox (68-73).

In the seventh, Merrifield drove in Gore and Dyson with his hit off Beck for a 5-4 lead. The Royals made it 6-4 later in the seventh when Kendrys Morales' fielder's choice grounder scored Merrifield.

Kansas City starter Edinson Volquez had no decision after working five innings before being relieved by left-hander Matt Strahm. Volquez allowed four earned runs on nine hits, struck out two and walked four.

"Eddie did a really good of limiting the damage," Yost said. "It was one of those nights where he wasn't exceptionally sharp but made big pitches when he needed to limit the damage."

Strahm left with two out in the sixth and White Sox runners on second and third but McCarthy struck out Anderson to end the threat.

Chicago starter James Shields had his second no-decision in three starts and has no victory since July 26. He gave up early home runs to Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon as the Royals opened a 3-1 lead by the fourth inning.

Hosmer's 22nd home run of the season came on Shields' first pitch, driving home Dyson to give the Royals a 2-0 lead with one out.

Chicago got one run back in the third inning as Adam Eaton scored from third on Cabrera's fielder's choice grounder to second base.

Kansas City replied in the fourth with Gordon's leadoff home run to right. His 14th homer of the season - a solo shot - extended the Royals lead to 3-1.

The White Sox scraped together another run in the fourth as Todd Frazier led off with walk, advanced to third on Omar Narvaez's ground out to first and came home when Saladino grounded to third.

Chicago took a 4-3 lead with a two-run fifth. Abreu forced a tie with a two-out single that drove in Cabrera from second after he had doubled to deep right. Abreu, who advanced to second on a throw, came home on Morneau's two-base hit down the right-field line.

NOTES: Kansas City RF Lorenzo Cain was out of Saturday's lineup and one report suggested a sore left wrist could knock him out for the rest of the season. He played on Friday for the first time since Aug. 30, going 1-for-3. ... RHP Edinson Volquez is among five big league pitchers to reach 30 starts for the season through Saturday. He's made at least 30 starts in each of the last five seasons. ... The Royals send RHP Ian Kennedy (10-9, 3.76 ERA) for his 29th start on Sunday against LHP Chris Sale (15-7, 3.07 ERA), who makes his 28th start of the season, 13th at home and 11th career versus Kansas City. ... White Sox 1B/DH Jose Abreu is hitting .444 with three home runs, 11 RBIs and five runs scored in an active six-game hitting streak. ... Todd Frazier is tied for sixth in the major leagues with 35 home runs and has set a single-season club record for third basemen.