White Sox drop 3rd straight game; fall to Royals, 4-3
Apr 5, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Chicago White Sox pitcher John Danks (50) throws the ball against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
This was another roller coaster type of game for the Chicago White Sox this season, but this ride left me with an upset stomach.
On Saturday, the “Good Guys” looked like they were out of it, tied the game but ultimately couldn’t keep up with the Kansas City Royals, falling by a score of 4-3.
What I didn’t like was it was yet again the bullpen couldn’t keep pace with the bats and starting pitching of the team.
Today, it was Maikel Cleto who served up a pitch that was sent down the third-base line by Salvador Perez of Kansas City that gave the White Sox a third straight loss, dropping them to 2-3 overall.
Why you would give Perez anything to hit is beyond me.
Apr 5, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Chicago White Sox catcher Adrian Nieto (17) tags out Kansas City Royals base runner Eric Hosmer (35) in a rundown between third and home during the fourth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
It is becoming an early habit to not trust the bullpen of the White Sox. All the blame isn’t on Cleto, because Scott Downs is the one who let the runner on the base in the first place.
John Danks had a no-decision. In his first start of the season, he finished with seven innings pitched, allowing three earned runs on five hits and four walks. He struck out six batters on 115 pitches (76 strikes).
Not his best, not his worst, but for it being a season debut against a good hitting Kansas City team … I liked the effort of his day on the mound, and it was good for a first start of the year.
Oh, before I forget, Danks entered the fourth inning with a no-hitter.
• The PLAY OF THE GAME: The relay from Adam Eaton to Jose Abreu to Conor Gillaspie to catcher Adrian Nieto to get Eric Hosmer out in a rundown at home to keep the bases from being loaded in the bottom of the fourth was a very nice sequence of events we need to see more of.
Following that play, Danks walked the bases loaded … then he followed that with another walk to give the Royals a 2-0 lead at the time.
Oh, and the bases were still loaded with one out. Luckily, Danks rallied back to strike out the next two batters to keep the damage to a minimum, two runs, which was very nice to see.
• The productive eighth inning offensively for the White Sox consisted of Conor Gillaspie hitting a fastball up the middle for an RBI with no outs, while the bases were loaded in the top of the eighth.
Paul Konerko hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Jose Abreu and tie the game at 3-3.
• The SECOND Play of the Game was: Nieto’s throw in the bottom of the eighth to throw out the speedy Jarrod Dyson at second base on a steal opportunity. He earned after-game pizza and ice cream with that throw.
• Bruce Chen of the Royals also had a no-decision. He pitched 6.1 innings, allowing one run (unearned) on six hits, and he struck out seven White Sox batters.
• The winning pitcher was Wade Davis, and the save went to Greg Holland. The loss was charged to Scott Downs.
• Gillaspie and Alexei Ramirez each had two hits. The White Sox totaled eight hits on the day.
• Alex Gordon went 2-for-4 to lead KC, scoring one run.
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