KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The White Sox tied a major-league record with six Opening-Day home runs on the way to a 14-7 victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Matt Davidson homered three times, Tim Anderson had two and Jose Abreu started the surge with the first as the Sox joined the 1988 Mets as the only teams with six homers in a season opener.
Davidson is just the fourth player in major-league history to homer three times on Opening Day.
Most of the damage happened in the fourth and fifth innings.
With the Sox trailing 4-0, Abreu connected for a two-run homer off Royals left-hander Danny Duffy that bounced off the top of the fence in left field. Davidson went back-to-back to make it a one-run game, and Anderson's solo shot tied it. It was the first Opening Day the Sox hit back-to-back homers and three home runs in one inning.
That erased a four-run lead the Royals built against Sox right-hander James Shields. Yoan Moncada's RBI double over third base gave the Sox the lead.
Davidson's solo shot and Anderson's two-run homer off reliever Blaine Boyer pushed the lead to four runs in the fifth. Davidson added a three-run shot in the eighth to make it a 10-run game.
Neither Davidson nor Anderson had hit two homers in a game before Thursday, but they became the fifth and sixth players in Sox history to record multi-homer games on Opening Day with a homer each in the fourth and fifth innings.
Shields had made seven Opening-Day starts before Thursday's game, and his eighth did not start well. The 36-year-old right-hander gave up four runs in the first inning against his former team.
Jon Jay, Whit Merrifield and Mike Moustakas started with three straight singles for a 1-0 lead against Shields. Lucas Duda then sent a three-run homer sailing over the right-center field wall for a 4-0 lead.
But Shields allowed just two more baserunners over his final five score innings.
Shields, who pitched for the Royals from 2013-14, also has made Opening-Day starts for the Rays, Royals and Padres.
