After the first batter of the bottom of the first inning, this was not the White Sox’ night.
Yoan Moncada led off with a first-pitch homer off Jakob Junis, but the Royals ripped off the next 10 runs of the game en route to their first series win against the Sox this season in four chances.
Dylan Covey had his usual problems, cruising through the first two innings before hitting the guard rail in the third. He created his own problems by walking the seventh- and eighth-place hitters, then bouncing the throw to first on a sac bunt to load the bases.
Just when it looked like he might get out of the inning with a Whit Merrifield 1-2-3 double play, Alex Gordon dropped a double between the shift in left center for a two-run double, and the Royals never trailed again.
Covey just couldn’t locate much, spending way too time up in the zone after missing low. He issued three walks on top five hits for seven runs, only four of which were earned because of a costly error by Moncada in the fifth. He let a throw from third glance off his glove when it could’ve been an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. The first of five runs scored on the play, putting the game out of reach.
Tyler Danish allowed his first two runs of the season on a Gordon homer in the sixth.
The Sox at least made the score slightly more respectable, but mostly because Junis lost the strike zone. After Kevan Smith led off with the sixth with a single, Junis walked Moncada, Jose Abreu and Daniel Palka over the course of four batters to force home a run. Avisail Garcia struck out with a terrible AB to threaten the threat, but Leury Garcia picked him up with a two-run single through the middle to make it 10-4.
Leury Garcia then came through again in the eighth with an RBI single to drive in Abreu, who had doubled.
Bullet points:
*Thyago Vieira dusted himself off from a disastrous White Sox debut, pitching 1â…” scoreless innings and hitting 100 on the gun.
*Moncada had a strong game at the plate, going 2-for-3 with the homer and two walks.
*Sal Perez cut down both Moncada and Tim Anderson at second base.
*Anderson made a tremendous play in the hole to start the game, robbing Merrifield of a single with some impressive arm strength. Again, everything before and during Moncada’s first-inning homer was fine.
Record: 37-70 | Box score
Man, it’d be something if we had better rotation options than Dylan Covey.Â
Yeah, I’d say Covey might be good in the pen but unfortunately there’s no one to take his rotation spot.
Steady no, but Anderson and Moncada ARE entertaining….
Just get 7 more wins to pass the ‘03 Tigers. That’s all I care about at this point.
That and call up Eloy and Kopech, but that’s already been said.
Had the misfortune to be at the game last night.the Sox lapses in the 5th . Moncada’s little league error almost made me throw up the only dollar dog I ate. Disheartening loss to the worse team in baseball.
With the way the Padres have been charging lately, that was an important loss by the Sox.
At this time last year, the Tigers were not in the picture. They stopped winning and got the first pick.
That still blows my mind. They had a not-great August at 11-17, then went 6-24 the rest of the way.
(And 2 of those wins coming at the expense of the Sox, I think)
Well we certainly can’t allow that to happen again.
BTW- Both of my comments should be read with a “clearly” at the beginning.