Considering Michael A. Taylor singlehandedly won one the games he played in Luis Robert Jr.'s three-game absence, and given how much the former All-Star's 2025 season has been deprived of catharsis, whatever wait was necessary for Friday night's breakthrough in front of a capacity crowd was just the cost of resuscitation.
And fresh off Thursday's ball-to-noggin-induced absence, and on the heels of a couple of strange at-bats, Robert -- jammed to hell by a Jonathan Bowlan sinker to his hands -- blooped a bases-loaded, two-run go-ahead eighth-inning single into short right. That the Royals followed Robert's breakthrough by allowing three more runs to score via fielding errors and a wild pitch to turn a tense affair into a laugher doesn't un-clutchify his efforts, at least from a statistical perspective. It did possibly make Bryse Wilson facing Jac Caglianone in the ninth a less ulcer-inducing affair.
"I was so concerned by hitting homers and pulling the ball that I kind of got of whack," said Robert via interpreter, explaining that he worked on letting the ball travel deeper. "Now, I’m more focused on hit the ball to the opposite field and if I pull the ball, it’s good. But that is not my priority."
Royals starter Seth Lugo provided just the type of command-and-pitchability pitcher that would test whether Kyle Teel could handle major league sequencing upon arrival, and if Robert had re-tethered his plate approach to the mortal coil. The initial results were mixed.
Teel drew a full-count walk to much ovation in his first career plate appearance, pushing Joshua Palacios into scoring position after his one-out single in the second. That positioned Robert to plate the first run of the game with a funny-looking three-quarters swing on a sweeper that broke a foot off the plate, producing a soft flare of an RBI single. Not only did the breakthrough not trigger an offensive tidal wave, but Teel made the last out of the inning as the ugly half of an under-executed double steal.
"I completely screwed up that play," Teel said. "I don't want to do that again."
Two innings later, Teel would collect his first hit by lashing a single to right field, and he eventually scored an insurance run in the eighth via #WILDPITCHOFFENSE, so career firsts were being experienced all over the place.
But that first Teel single loaded the bases for Robert in the fourth, where he struck out staring at a plate-splitting sinker in a fashion that didn't suggest the most engaged approach of his career to date. Josh Rojas followed it up by striking out on a dirted curveball, reminding that having the lowest batting average with runners in scoring position is a team effort.
Davis Martin has lived on this earth for 28 years. He's pitched in parts of three big league seasons. He threw 92 pitches on Friday night. His life, his career, his night is so much more than a changeup he threw to Maikel García and a high slider he left up to Vinnie Pasquantino in successive at-bats in the third.
But both were whacked for solo homers to put the Royals up 2-1 for a spell, stealing the thunder from Martin's four-seamer. His fastball was strangely dominant at the letters all night, producing 10 whiffs, which is a bit of a departure for someone with a whole arsenal built around accommodating the lack of overpowering velocity. Mike Tauchman dropping the barrel on a down-and-in changeup for a fifth-inning solo shot would eventually serve to get Martin off the hook.
"It kind of felt like cramming, like for a test in college," Teel said of sketching out a gameplan with Martin. "I would give myself an A."
"I had a PitchCom on my glove so I kind of led the way but he had some really good suggestions kind of halfway through," Martin said. "He was paying attention. He had the feel of the game. Simultaneously we hit changeup on the strikeout to [Jonathan] India. He's following, he's picking up what we want to do."
The decidedly no-name Sox bullpen carried a tied 2-2 ballgame into the ninth. Brandon Eisert completed a quiet seventh, before Jordan Leasure allowed the first two runners to reach in the eighth. Leasure recovered to barely gun down India at third on a sacrifice bunt attempt, got an 'oh, that's why they signed him' diving stop from Rojas on a Pasquantino screamer to the right side, and got Salvador Perez to pop up a high fastball to Teel to escape and put himself in line for the eventual win.
"The thing we put on the field tonight, I'm glad 36,000 people got to see it because that's who we are," Martin said. "That's what we're capable of."
Bullet points:
*The last three runs of the eighth scored via wild pitch, a grounder going through García's legs at third, and a pickoff throw going up the right field line. That's baseball.
*Announced attendance for the first White Sox sellout of the year was 36,916.
*Eisert has allowed one run over his last seven appearances, striking out 10 over 6 2/3 innings.
*Andrew Benintendi doubled twice, including to lead off the five-run eighth, and flew out deep another two times.
*Teel singled and walked twice in his debut, the second free pass loading the bases in the eighth, setting the stage for Robert.
