KANSAS CITY — Alexei Ramirez hit a grand slam, Dewayne Wise homered twice and Mark Buehrle pitched six effective innings as the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 9-4 on Friday night.

The victory, coupled with Minnesota’s 11-1 loss at Tampa Bay, gave the White Sox a 2½-game lead over the Twins in the American League Central. The loss snapped the Royals’ seven-game winning streak, their longest since starting the 2003 season 9-0.

The White Sox sent 10 men to the plate in a six-run fourth inning, scoring all the runs with two outs.

Jermaine Dye doubled, Jim Thome singled and A.J. Pierzynski walked before Ramirez tied an AL rookie record with his third grand slam. Shane Spencer hit three grand slams as a rookie for the New York Yankees in 1998. It was Chicago’s 11th grand slam this season, tying the club record set in 2006.

Nick Swisher, who had two hits, scored on a wild pitch in the inning, while Orlando Cabrera’s single scored Juan Uribe, who had doubled, with the final run of the fourth.

Thome hit his 33rd homer in the fifth off Royals starter Brian Bannister (8-16).

Buehrle (14-11), working on three days’ rest, gave up three runs and six hits. He is 3-0 in four September starts and is 6-1 in his past nine starts.

Bannister retired eight of the first nine hitters he faced before allowing six runs on six hits, a walk and a wild pitch in the fourth. Bannister left after allowing seven runs and eight hits in five innings.

, is tied for the American League lead in losses. He has one win in 15 starts since a June 23 victory over Colorado. Bannister, who has given up eight home runs in four starts against the White Sox this season, has allowed 29 home runs, second in the AL.

Mark Teahen hit a three-run homer in the Kansas City fourth. Teahen homered after Jose Guillen singled and Ryan Shealy was hit by a pitch.

Wise homered leading off the seventh against Robinson Tejeda and went deep again in the ninth off Devon Lowery. It was his first career two-homer game.

Alberto Callaspo led off the Kansas City seventh with a double, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games. He scored on David DeJesus’ two-out single.

Notes: Tejeda left with a strained left hip flexor after throwing a wild pitch in the seventh. ... The White Sox have hit four or more home runs in a game 11 times, tops the majors.