Striking success in Sox season series, 10-3 slaughter secures set

A one-sided end to a one-sided series.

The Kansas City Royals racked up 16 hits to complete the sweep with a 10-3 beating of the Chicago White Sox.

The Royals wasted little time against Drew Thorpe in the first as Maikel Garcia roped the second pitch of the game into left for a knock to get things started. He would move to second on a groundout before stealing third base. Vinnie Pasquantino then battled for ten pitches before yanking a backdoor slider into right for a run-scoring single.

Paul DeJong, having moved from the home to the visitor’s clubhouse yesterday after being traded, took his first plate appearance as a Royal in the second inning. As one would expect from a guy with a 3.9% walk rate, he walked on four pitches. The next batter, Freddy Fermin, clubbed a hanging slider from Thorpe into the stands in left for a homer that gave Kansas City a 3-0 lead.

On the other side, after a quick and clean first inning, Brady Singer labored in the second. Gavin Sheets and Lenyn Sosa ripped consecutive singles to start the inning and Andrew Benintendi looped a double down the right field line to score both runners. Nick Senzel then bunted Benintendi over to second. That gambit paid off when Dominic Fletcher followed with a groundball single through a drawn-in infield. In the span of just 11 pitches, the Sox tied the game at 3-3.

Kansas City immediately answered in the third. Bobby Witt Jr. led off the inning with a walk and swiped second for his 24th steal of the season. Salvador Perez then ripped a single into left to bring him home. They expanded the lead in the fifth after Garcia led off the inning with a blooper into center and Witt followed with a hard groundball to third that Senzel fielded but had no chance of making a throw on. Garcia would score when Perez lined a ball to center that clanked off Fletcher’s glove for a double. Hunter Renfroe then hit a flyball to center that was more than deep enough to score Witt, giving Kansas City a 6-3 lead.

Meanwhile, Singer settled in after a rough second inning to put together a quality start. After Fletcher’s single, he allowed just two more baserunners and managed to complete the seventh inning on just 89 pitches. Though he didn’t miss a ton of bats, his sinker was working well enough to roll up grounders. Singer gave way to Lucas Erceg in the eighth, who struck out two as part of a 1-2-3 inning in his Royals debut.

Kansas City not content with how much they have utterly humiliated the Pale Hoes this season, turned the game into a laugher in the ninth. Witt led off with yet another infield single before Pasquantino crushed a long homer to right. A popup that should have been caught, a Renfroe single, and a forceout at second led to another run. A pinch-hit double by Garrett Hampson and Fermin’s fourth hit of the day ran the score to 10-3.

The win improves the Royals to 60-49. They thoroughly dominated the White Sox in the season series, going 12-1 and outscoring them by 43 runs. Kansas City is six games behind Cleveland in the division and tied with Minnesota for the second wild card. They will travel to Detroit for a four-game set against the Tigers beginning tomorrow evening.

Brady Singer: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 0 HR

Drew Thorpe: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HR

Freddy Fermin: 4-5, HR, 3 RBI, R

Andrew Benintendi: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R