Anthony Kay didn't have it, and the White Sox offense couldn't quite bring it.
Kay gave up runs in each of the four innings he started, immediately squandering a pair of early leads provided by the Sox offense. Five White Sox relievers kept the Royals scoreless to keep the game within reach, but five Royals relievers kept the White Sox scoreless, and so the 5-4 final score was frozen in place after 3½ innings.
"It was one of those where out of the gates you really like the at-bats," said Will Venable. "Credit to the Royals bullpen bouncing back and making it really tough on us. We couldn’t get anything going."
Kay's day was a slog from the start. He was lucky to get out of the first with just one run allowed, as Carter Jensen's RBI single was one of five batted balls hit 94 mph or harder, and that set the tone for the rest of his afternoon.
He allowed the leadoff hitter to reach in the first three innings, and he came around to score each time. The second-inning run was assisted by Colson Montgomery rushing his actions on a routine grounder to short in hopes of starting two, and instead getting none. That turned into a pair of runs after a Lane Thomas RBI single and a Bobby Witt Jr. sac fly.
The latter two innings was about Kay's inability to shut the door. He was on the verge of working around a Starling Marte leadoff single, but Isaac Collins dropped a two-out double to right to tie the game at 4. The Royals then took the lead for good entirely after two outs in the fourth, as Kay walked Witt on four pitches before giving up a double to Jensen that ended his afternoon.
"Just the first two times [facing the Royals], I did a good job of getting ahead," Kay said. "This time, it was almost a completely different lineup this time with all the injuries they’ve had. Just me not getting ahead against a lot of those guys kind of led to them having success and led to the runs scored."
The White Sox offense was able to counterpunch in the first two innings. They answered back as quickly as possible in the first off Luinder Avila, as Sam Antonacci singled and Miguel Vargas launched a two-run blast to left for a quick 2-1 lead.
After the Royals made it 3-2 in the second, Antonacci and Vargas got it started once again. The former singled with two outs to keep the inning alive, the latter doubled to put two runners in scoring position, and then Kyle Teel's broken-bat flare dropped safely into left for a two-run single and a 4-3 lead.
"I have been learning a lot from previous years and just trying to be consistent every day and give myself and my body the best opportunity every night and every day to be the best version of me," said Vargas, who played his 81st game of the season on Sunday. "I was feeling good today. Just trying to see good pitches to swing at and get on base and give the guy next to me an opportunity to drive me home."
Avila departed after four, and based on the first two games, it seemed like a safe bet that five runs wouldn't win the game. Instead, Steven Cruz, Beck Way, Lucas Erceg, Matt Straham and Alex Lange combined to throw five scoreless innings, with Tristan Peters' two-out single off Way in the sixth inning the lone hit. Peters stole second and Jacob Gonzalez backfilled first with a walk, but Antonacci struck out swinging, and that was their last plate appearance with a runner in scoring position.
It wasted an equally effective showing by the White Sox bullpen. Trevor Richards immediately quieted the Kansas City offense by retiring the four batters he faced, and an early get-right appearance by Seranthony Domínguez produced a scoreless sixth inning.
"[Will] told me a couple of days ago that he'd maybe throw me early in the game to do my thing and try to get better," Domínguez said. "I was doing some mechanic adjustment, and I feel really good today, and I hope to continue to keep doing that and keep getting good results."
Bryan Hudson had to navigate the most traffic. Braden Montgomery erased a leadoff single Marte by firing a three-hop seed to Colson Montgomery, who caught the ball right before Marte slid into his glove for the first out. Despite another single and a walk, Hudson escaped unscathed. Jordan HIcks then came out showing some of his best stuff of the season for four outs, and Chris Murphy survived a warning-track fly from Marte to complete 5⅓ scoreless innings on the White Sox's side, albeit in vain.
Bullet points:
*Kay's final line: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, and his customary HBP. He got just seven whiffs and 12 called strikes on 73 pitches. Nine of the 17 balls in play qualified as hard-hit, with another one 94.2 mph.
*Vargas reached base all four times, although he was picked off after his fourth-inning walk for his second baserunning out of the series.
*The Guardians were able to get to Seattle's bullpen for five runs in the eighth for a come-from-behind 6-5 victory, so the AL Central is again deadlocked up top.
