One and Counting

The White Sox did something last night in Kansas City they haven’t done since April 4, 2024. Yup, beat the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. A shutout, no less. Sox 2 Royals 0. If nothing else, 5-8 tops 4-9. But how bad must the Royals be if an opponent with only six hitters in the lineup—again—beats them? Those six hitters generated all of five hits, two by catcher Edgar Quero and a run-scoring double off the bat of Colson Montgomery. As for the three, let’s call them “projects,” a single from Dustin Harris and a sacrifice fly from Luisangel Acuna, who now has two RBIs in 39 at-bats. Right now, the pitching both stinks and looks promising. Last night, Anthony Kay went 5.2 innings giving up three hits and two walks against six strikeouts, all good enough for Kay’s first win since June of 2021. (Not a good idea to hit two batters, though.) Manager New-Mickey Venable actually used Grant Taylor out of the pen for a change, and Taylor went 1.1 innings before yielding to Jordan Leasure, who did no damage over an inning, while Seranthony Dominguez managed not to blow the save despite a leadoff walk in the ninth. Did I mention Noah Schultz is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA for Triple-A Charlotte, or that he has nineteen strikeouts in fourteen innings? Some stats are worth repeating.