If nothing else, the White Sox learned their lesson from the Detroit fiasco last Friday: Keep scoring.
That was one of two things that allowed tonight's game to stand as a useful if uneasy victory, rather than another dispiriting defeat. The White Sox jumped out to a 9-1 lead that became a 9-4 margin when Anthony Kay was unable to complete five innings, but a big five-run seventh ultimately kept the Royals at arm's length despite seven runs against Trevor Richards and Luis Castillo the final two innings.
The other difference? Noah Schultz calmed the game down in the middle innings by getting through the fifth and sixth with none of his runs allowed (one of two inherited runners scored), and Huascar Brazobán followed suit in the seventh. That allowed Will Venable to use entirely front-end relievers to cover five innings, even if he had to get somebody warm when Castillo gave up a grand slam to Vinnie Pasquantino with one out in the ninth.
Even then, the Royals were a minimum of three batters away from bringing the tying run to the plate, and the White Sox offense is to thank for that. They jumped on Daniel Lynch IV, whose suffix stood for the amount of innings over which Sox hitters pounded him.
Chase Meidroth led the way, setting a career high with five RBIs and only needing the first three innings to do it. After the Sox loaded the bases with one out on a walk, single and HBP, Meidroth lined a single to left for the game's first two runs before the Royals could grab a bat.
Brenton Doyle made it a 3-0 game in the second with a solo shot to right center, the kind of swing that reflected the liveliness of Kauffman Stadium, and Meidroth took advantage an inning later. After Randal Grichuk bounced a double around and over the left field corner for a double and Munetaka Murakami overturned a third strike into a fourth ball, Meidroth pulled a 2-1 hanging curve foul, but when Lynch dangled a changeup on 2-2, Meidroth launched it over the left-center wall for a three-run shot and a 6-0 lead.
Grichuk, who scored on Meidroth hits his first two times up, took a leading role in the fourth. Lynch came within an out of his first scoreless inning, but Miguel Vargas kept the inning alive with an infield single and Tommy Pham walked. That gave Grichuk a third plate appearance against the lefty starter, and he socked a 1-0 curve one row into the left-center seats for another three-run shot.
That turned out to be a pivotal hit with the way the White Sox's pitching failed to handle business. Kay made it through the first two innings scoreless, but needed two fine players by his corner outfielders to get through the first alive. Braden Montgomery cut down Carter Jensen at third on a Bobby Witt Jr. single in the first, and Grichuk ran down Maikel Garcia's deep fly to the left field corner for the third out.
He gave up a solo shot to Nick Loftin to open the third, but with a 6-0 lead, that could be seen as better than a free base. He proved that by walking Garcia to start the fourth after the Sox stretched their lead to 9-1. Singles by Pasquantino and Salvador Perez made it 9-2, and an RBI groundout by Loftin put a third run on the board.
Still, Kay was only at 60 pitches through four innings, and with the six-run lead, Will Venable gave him a chance to go five. Kay did not inspire any faith, plunking Jensen to lead off the inning. When Witt's rocket clipped off Colson Montgomery's glove and through his wickets for a "single," Venable decided he'd seen enough and went to Schultz, who retired all six batters he faced on a total of 23 pitches. He could've gone a third inning with ease, but if Venable wanted to keep him available sooner, Brazobán rewarded him with a fine seventh before hell broke loose on the watches of Richards and Castillo.
Fortunately, it didn't really matter, as the White Sox cracked the code on Tony Gonsolin in his third inning of work. Grichuk started the seventh with a double that could've been a cycle-bearing triple had the ball skipped past a diving Kyle Isbel, rather than getting knocked down by his glove. He had to settle for two bases, but could trot home when Murakami lined a curveball over the right field wall for a two-run shot that pushed the Sox into double digits.
Meidroth then started a rally anew with a walk, moved to second on Doyle's infield single two batters later, and another infield single by Braden Montgomery two batters later loaded the bases. Miguel Vargas came to the plate but didn't get a chance to swing, walking on five pitches. Andrew Benintendi did get a chance to swing against new reliever Nolan Hoffman, and lined a single to right center that made it a 14-4 game. A 10-run margin proved sufficient.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox hadn't scored 14 runs at Kauffman Stadium since Opening Day of the 2018 season, when Matt Davidson homered thrice.
*Meidroth's final line: 3-for-5 with a homer, a walk, five RBIs and two runs scored.
*Grichuk's final line: 4-for-5 with a homer, two doubles, three RBIs and four runs scored.
*The White Sox were 6-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Nice.
*Tristan Peters took his first swings since that scary crash into the fence pole Friday during the Detroit series. He struck out as a pinch hitter, but that's besides the point.
*Colson Montgomery had a rough night. Along with the unmade play on Witt's liner, he went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. He moved past Yoán Moncada for second on the White Sox single-season strikeout list with 219, and is three short of Adam Dunn's record.
*The White Sox are still a game behind Cleveland in the AL Central, but their magic number to clinch is down to 3, with Houston playing against Seattle now.
