The Chicago White Sox came into the first game of their series with the Kansas City Royals on a low note. They had struggled to get anywhere in the past seven games. They had to win tonight’s game to get back on track and get moving in a positive direction.
However, they struggled in all aspects of the game. Bad offense, defense, and pitching forced them to lose their eighth straight game.
After White Sox pitcher Dallas Keuchel had a solid top of the first inning, the White Sox were able to run up the pitch count on Royals pitcher Daniel Lynch but only got one hit.
The second inning saw the Sox get into a little trouble with Keuchel walking a couple of batters but they got out of it without allowing a run. The White Sox ended up going scoreless in the bottom of the second inning.
The third inning saw the Royals go one, two, three, and out. The Sox couldn’t muster any offense in the bottom of the third and the score was 0-0 through three innings.
Things did not go well at all for the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.
Keuchel continued to pitch in the fourth and the White Sox gave up a run which happened due to an error that allowed Salvador Perez to head home for the run.
That left two runners on the bases and the Royals grabbed another run when Carolos Santana headed home to make it 2-0. The White Sox loaded the bases thanks to Keuchel missing the strike zone so often but he was able to get out of the jam with just one run against.
Yasmani Grandal hit a double but that was all the offense they could muster. The score was 2-0 at the end of the fourth inning.
Despite the fact that he had such poor control in the fourth, Keuchel started at the top of the fifth. It didn’t last long as Reynaldo Lopez came in to replace Keuchel. Lopez managed to work with the defense to get out of the inning. The White Sox got no offensive luck in the bottom of the inning.
The Royals grabbed another run on a sacrifice fly. With one out in the inning, following a walk, LaRussa replaced Lopez with Kyle Crick. Crick came in and walked the first batter loading up the bases.
Kansas City got another run, to go up 4-0, then he allowed another walk to load the bases again. Crick allowed a two-run single by Santana which put Kansas City up 6-0 in a long top of the sixth. He loaded the basses a third time but got out of the jam. If the Sox bats ever had to come alive, this was the time.
In the bottom of the sixth, the White Sox earned a walk but couldn’t get a hit. They headed into the seventh inning with the score 6-0 in Kansas City’s favor.
Matt Foster came in to pitch for the White Sox and got the Sox out of the inning without a Royals run. The White Sox took over after the 7th inning stretch and the Royals threw a new pitcher.
Taylor Clarke came in and the Sox got a couple of singles. One came from Jake Burger and another from Adam Engel but couldn’t get anything more.
In the 8th, White Sox allowed a couple of singles but managed to get a neat double play to end the Royals’ scoring threat. In the bottom of the eighth, the White Sox faced Brady Singer and went out in order quickly.
Chicago’s Anderson Severino was sent into the game in the ninth to hold off the Royals and he got some help from his defense as they got a double play to end the inning. The Sox’s last gasp in the bottom of the ninth saw them get a single from Burger but that was about all they mustered.
The Royals won the game 6-0. It showed that the White Sox bats are colder than the weather on game night.
They just cannot seem to generate anything with their bats. They struggle to hit the ball and the “why” is hard to figure out. Why does this team, one of the top teams heading into the season, have such trouble scoring runs?
Their defense committed some errors that cost them dearly. They are on an error streak right now and that’s a problem. This team seems to have lost all of it its “try hard” ability. They are sluggish, soft, and not even close to crisp.
They are a perfect imperfection. Wednesday’s game against the Royals has been moved from 6:10 pm to 1:10 pm due to cold weather. The Sox will try to pick up a much-needed win and stop the “bleeding”.