If you were categorizing where the Royals were struggling the most this season, you would probably go with on the road, hitting with runners in scoring position, and against left-handed pitching. All three of those problems arose again today though the team fought and kept themselves in the game to the very end.
The White Sox made Lugo work early. It took him 27 pitches to get through the 1st, though he did manage to emerge unscathed. In the second he did not. Kelenic shot a single through short with
Witt shifted toward second. Then Peters doubled to right and brought him around. Romo then hit a weak dribbler down the first base line that Pasquantino did not handle well, so Peters scored and the Sox were up 0-2. They added a third run in the next inning on a Meidroth sac fly.
In the fourth Kansas City tied it back up again after three consecutive walks loaded the bases to start the inning. Garcia, then Witt, then Thomas all reached base. Walks are the main problem for the 6’10” rookie Noah Shultz. Salvy struck out, so the problems with runners in scoring position started rearing their head again in a way that later felt like foreshadowing. Nick Loftin hit a sac fly to bring in Maikel and get one. Then Vinnie picked up the other two on this single:
A single does not normally score two with first and third occupied, but that not so well hit flare got the job done.
The Royals did manage to get Shultz out of the game fairly early when he walked Garcia in the 5th inning. Bobby walked after him again, so it was looking good, but then Lane struck out looking and Perez grounded out to end the threat. Chicago mounted a threat of their own that inning when Montgomery singled with one down and was moved to second on a Benintendi walk. Jarred Kelenic doubled them both in to get the White Sox a two run lead.
The 7th inning is where it felt like the Royals actually lost the game. Collins takes a pitch off of the knee to start the inning with a hit by pitch. Carter Jensen came in to pinch hit for Diaz and singled moving Collins to third with no one out and the top of the lineup coming to the plate. Maikel Garcia K, Bobby Witt K, Lane Thomas K looking. another threat ended. Then Schreiber came in to pitch the bottom of the inning and gave up a solo bomb on the first pitch to move the game to 3-6.
In the 9th, the Royals made one more attempt to come back and take the game. Carter Jensen had a nice hustle double after the first out. Garcia moved him to third on the second out of the inning. And Bobby hit a no doubter to left center.
Now a one run game, the Royals had closed the gap, but they were also down to their last out. Caglianone pinch hit for Thomas, but he struck out and that was that.
Back-to-back one run losses to an in-division opponent feels pretty bad. The White Sox have taken the series, and the Royals need to avoid the sweep tomorrow. Getting back to .500 felt attainable in the near future a couple of days ago, but they have dropped to 5 under and are back at the bottom of the AL Central.
