Royals split doubleheader with Sox...barely

In a tale of two different outcomes, the Royals split with their division rival on Tuesday. The two games put Kansas City’s record at 45-101.

In Game 1 of the doubleheader, the Royals didn’t stand much of a chance after the first inning. In the bottom of the first, the White Sox tagged the struggling Brady Singer for five runs — all of them earned. As it came to be, that’s all Chicago needed.

Singer managed to work through the next four frames without allowing a run and Edward Olivares put the Royals on the board in the fourth with an RBI-double. However, the White Sox answered back in the sixth with a run — chasing Singer for good. In all, the right-hander allowed six earned runs on nine hits. His ERA stands at 5.51.

Brad Keller made his first appearance since May and walked two, but other than that...it was an uneventful 6-2 loss.

In Game 2, the Royals got the offense started early. For the second time in a week, the Royals got their crack at Touki Toussaint. This time, the fireworks were fast and hot. In the top of the first, Kansas City plated four runs — two of which came off the bat of rookie Logan Porter, who notched his first career hit and RBI in the same plate appearance.

In the ensuing inning, Michael Massey belted a three-run shot for his 12th of the year to open the game up at 8-0. On the mound, Jordan Lyles could do no wrong. He cruised through the first 12 batters of the game without allowing a baserunner. However, the most Lyles thing happened in the bottom of the sixth.

With a 9-1 lead going into the inning, all seemed calm. Suddenly, Chicago’s offense sprung to life. Before anyone could blink, the White Sox put seven straight guys on to cut the lead to 9-5. Lyles, who was free and easy in the first five, was pulled before recording an out in the sixth. Taylor Clarke came on in relief and dumped more gasoline on the fire. With the bases juiced, Gavin Sheets ripped a bases clearing double that cut the deficit to one. Moments later, the White Sox tied the game on a sacrifice fly. In all, Chicago plated eight runs — killing Lyles’s chances at his fifth victory of the season.

On the bright side, the White Sox bullpen was just as bad as the Royals. In the top of the seventh, Maikel Garcia recorded his third of the night and gave Kansas City the lead back on a single to left.

Collin Snider and Angel Zerpa worked around some trouble in the seventh and eighth, but kept the one-run lead intact. Bobby Witt Jr provided some insurance on a sacrifice fly in the ninth to make it 11-9 — setting up Carlos Hernandez for the save.

Hernandez brought the winning run to the plate, but got Eloy Jiménez to ground out to end the game at 11-10.

The Royals, 45-101, will go for a series win in their final meeting with the White Sox in 2023. Mike Clevinger will start for Chicago, but Matt Quatraro hasn’t announced a starter for Kansas City. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. CT.