KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Maybe there's something to the calendar change for the Royals.
After ending April on a nine-game skid, the Royals opened May with a 6-1 victory over the White Sox on Monday at Kauffman Stadium.
Jorge Bonifacio and Eric Hosmer crushed a two-run homers, and in a sign that the breaks had finally fallen the Royals' way, Salvador Perez banged a two-run single off the third-base bag.
The new month was only one indicator the Royals' fortunes could change. The other was Jason Vargas on the mound.
Twice earlier this season, Vargas pitched gems to end three-game losing streaks. The stakes were higher for Monday's assignment.
"It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel," Royals designated hitter Brandon Moss said before the game. "But it can start today. Why not?"
It did largely because of Vargas. Over six innings, he allowed five hits. His control was a bit off. Three walks was one more than he had surrendered in his previous four starts covering 25 1/3 innings.
He entered the game with an American League best 0.77 walks per nine innings, and a leadoff free pass in the fourth led to the game's first run.
But Vargas, who was chosen the Royals' pitcher of the month earlier in the day, used his change-up to maneuver out of further trouble, and he improved to 4-1 while carrying a 1.42 ERA.
"He's got an exceptional one," Royals manager said of Vargas' change-up. "He's got tremendous arm speed with it that makes it look like a fastball to the hitter's eyes, and then it just kind of gets halfway there and stops. He knows that he can command it, and he uses it very, very effectively."
Peter Moylan, Joakim Soria and Scott Alexander pitched a clean seventh, eighth and ninth innings, as the Royals improved to 8-16 and defeated a Central Division opponent for the first time in nine attempts this season.
The Royals gave Vargas the lead in the fourth. With two outs, Alex Gordon hustled out an opposite-field double, his fourth double of the season.
Up stepped Bonifacio, who was called up on April 21 to replace Paulo Orlando in right field and provide some pop.
In his second big-league game, Bonifacio hit his first home run. He didn't have another until crushing Dylan Covey's offering 432 feet onto the steps next to the Royals Hall of Fame in left field on Monday.
The Royals added to the advantage in the next inning by loading the bases with one out on singles by Alcides Escobar and Mike Moustakas and a walk to Lorenzo Cain. After Hosmer struck out, Perez chopped a grounder that caught third base and skidded into left field, scoring two runs.
Hosmer made up for his whiff by clubbing an opposite-field home run to left-center in the seventh after Christian Colon's single. Few were happier to see April end than Hosmer, who entered the game hitting .225 with three extra-base hits and six RBIs.
The Royals lost a scoring chance early after Escobar opened the third with a double and moved to third on Colon's sacrifice bunt. The inning ended when Moustakas grounded to third against a drawn-in infield, and Cain grounded out to second.
It looked like April, with all its poor hitting and missed opportunities, had seeped into May. That changed one inning later with Bonifacio's blast, and the Royals proved Yost prophetic.
"They've got to not press," Yost said. "They've got to not get frustrated. They've got to have some success in order for that to happen. But you're starting to see it. You're starting to see better at-bats. It's just a matter of time until we break out of it."
