CHICAGO (Interstat) — Colson Montgomery’s solo home run in the seventh inning proved to be the decisive blow as the Chicago White Sox held off the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Wednesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The White Sox improved to 21-21, while the Royals fell to 19-24. A crowd of 11,905 watched the two-hour, 31-minute contest that featured four lead changes and a late comeback attempt by Kansas City.

Chicago struck first in the second inning against Royals starter Seth Lugo. Jarred Kelenic singled and scored on Tristan Peters’ double to right-center field. Peters later scored on a fielding error by first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, giving the White Sox a 2-0 lead.

An inning later, the White Sox added a run. Miguel Vargas walked, moved to third on Montgomery’s single and scored on Chase Meidroth’s sacrifice fly to center field for a 3-0 advantage.

The Royals answered in the fourth inning against Chicago starter Noah Schultz. Maikel Garcia walked, Bobby Witt Jr. walked and Lane Thomas walked to load the bases. Salvador Perez struck out, but Nick Loftin’s sacrifice fly brought home Garcia. Witt advanced to third and scored along with Thomas on Pasquantino’s single to center field that deflected off left fielder Sam Antonacci. Starling Marte followed with a single, but the rally stalled when Isaac Collins grounded into a forceout. The three-run inning tied the game 3-3.

Chicago reclaimed the lead in the fifth. Montgomery singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Andrew Benintendi’s walk. Kelenic then doubled to right field, driving in Montgomery and Benintendi. Kelenic was thrown out at third trying to stretch the hit, but the damage gave Chicago a 5-3 lead.

After a quiet sixth inning, Montgomery struck again in the seventh. Facing Kansas City reliever Steven Cruz, Montgomery launched his 11th home run of the season to right field, extending the White Sox lead to 6-3.

Kansas City mounted one last charge in the ninth inning against White Sox closer Seranthony Domínguez. Pinch-hitter Carter Jensen led off with a double to right field. Garcia grounded out, moving Jensen to third. Witt then stepped to the plate and crushed his seventh home run to left-center field, cutting the deficit to 6-5. But Domínguez struck out Jac Caglianone on a foul tip to end the game and earn his 10th save.

Tyler Davis earned the win, his first of the season against one loss. Davis pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out two. Schultz started and went 4 1/3 innings, giving up three earned runs on two hits while striking out three. Jordan Hicks worked a scoreless seventh with three strikeouts, and Sean Newcomb added a scoreless eighth.

Lugo took the loss, falling to 1-3. He allowed five earned runs on eight hits over five innings, striking out four. Cruz, Alex Lange and one other Kansas City reliever combined for three scoreless innings.

Witt finished 1-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs. Pasquantino drove in two runs with his fourth-inning single. The Royals managed only five hits in the game, half of Chicago’s 10-hit output.

Montgomery went 3-for-4 with a homer, a single and an RBI. Kelenic was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Peters added a double and an RBI.

The win gave Chicago its second consecutive victory over Kansas City after the clubs split a four-game series in Kansas City earlier this month. The White Sox have now won three of five meetings between the teams this season. The Royals, meanwhile, lost for the fourth time in their last five games.

Both teams continue their series Thursday at Guaranteed Rate Field. Kansas City then travels to St. Louis for a weekend interleague series, while Chicago hosts the crosstown Cubs over the weekend.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Kansas City 6, Chicago 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Royals a 56.30 percent probability of winning. Kansas City was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5 runs. The combined total of 11 runs went under the over-under line of 8.