Chris Sale shuts down Kansas City Royals
By John Viril
The Kansas City Royals remained locked in their post-All-Star game death spiral by losing 3-1 to White Sox starter Chris Sale in Chicago on Monday night. The Royals have now lost their first four games since returning from the All-Star break, and 7 of their last 8.
If the Royals want to play themselves out of contention as rapidly as possible, they have been a smashing success over the last two-weeks.
The loss drops Kansas City to 2 games under .500 at 48-50. The Royals are now 8 games behind Detroit in the American League Central, and 1.5 games behind Cleveland.
On the Mound
The Royals wasted yet another solid performance from a starting pitcher. This time, Jeremy Guthrie went 6 innings, allowing 5 hits, 3 walks, and 3 earned runs with 5 strikeouts. Guthrie took his 9th loss of the season against 5 wins.
Aaron Crow pitched a scoreless 7th inning, despite allowing 1 hit and 2 walks.
Scott Downs and Jason Frasor combined to pitch a clean 8th inning, with Downs retiring the first two hitters and Frasor taking care of the last hitter.
At the Plate
The Royals offense was yet again helpless, this time humbled by Chicago ace Chris Sale. The Royals managed only 8 hits, 1 walk, and 1 earned run on the day.
Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar had the only extra base hits, with one double apiece.
Alex Gordon was the only Royal with more than 1 hit, going 2-4 with 1 run scored.
Danny Valencia had the team’s only RBI with his single in the 4th inning. Valencia went 1-2 with 1 RBI before getting pulled in favor of Mike Moustakas in the 9th.
This and That
Eric Hosmer missed Monday’s game with a bruised hand. Hosmer was originally scheduled to play, even though he had been struck on the hand by Jon Lester on Sunday, but Hosmer was scratched about an hour before the game. Billy Butler took Hosmer’s place at 1st base, with Salvador Perez coming back from his injury as the DH.
Not only did Gordon stroke two singles, he also added his 7th stolen base of the season.
Danny Valencia got thrown out at home attempting to score on Alcides Escobar’s double to right in the 4th inning–which killed the Royals rally. The run would have tied the game at 2-all.
KC Kingdom Player of the Game
Naming “Players of the Game” over the last two-weeks has been a little bit like awarding medals to Navy sailors after Pearl Harbor. Today, I guess I’m going with Alex Gordon by default.
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- Billy Butler – 2
- Francisley Bueno
- Danny Valencia
- Christian Colon
- Raul Ibanez
- Jarrod Dyson – 2
- Lorenzo Cain – 6
- Johnny Giavotella
- Wade Davis
- Norichika Aoki
- Salvador Perez – 6
- Jeremy Guthrie –
- Jason Vargas – 6
- Alex Gordon – 10
- Bruce Chen
- James Shields – 8
- Yordano Ventura – 4
- Mike Moustakas
- Danny Duffy – 7
- Omar Infante – 4
- Mike Moustakas – 5:
- Alcides Escobar – 5
- Eric Hosmer – 12
- Michael Mariot
The White Sox
Chris Sale didn’t have his best stuff, but was good enough to hold the Royals to 1 run. Sale is 9-1 with an outstanding 2.03 ERA this season, which makes him a Cy Young candidate. Four years ago, pre-draft rumors had the Royals drafting Sale in the 1st round. Instead, they selected bench warmer Christian Colon. Yeah. I think they’d like a do-over.
Up Next
The Royals will try to break their 4-game skid Tuesday night in Chicago. The Royals will send Bruce Chen to the mound (1-2, 6.46 ERA) against Chicago’s Scott Carroll (4-5, 4.19 ERA). Game time is 7:10 PM CST at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago.
Box
| Royals Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lorenzo Cain RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .297 | .333 | .414 | .747 |
| Omar Infante 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .275 | .313 | .384 | .697 |
| Salvador Perez DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .282 | .326 | .430 | .756 |
| Alex Gordon LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .271 | .352 | .422 | .773 |
| Billy Butler 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .267 | .319 | .346 | .664 |
| Danny Valencia 3B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .295 | .342 | .400 | .742 |
| Mike Moustakas 3B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .190 | .255 | .363 | .618 |
| Alcides Escobar SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .280 | .316 | .384 | .700 |
| Brett Hayes C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .125 | .143 | .208 | .351 |
| Jarrod Dyson CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .288 | .345 | .346 | .691 |
| Team Totals | 32 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 34 | .250 | .294 | .313 | .607 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
2B: L Cain (17, off C Sale); A Escobar (26, off C Sale).
HBP: D Valencia (1, by C Sale).
TB: A Gordon 2; A Escobar 2; L Cain 2; D Valencia; S Perez; B Hayes; M Moustakas.
GIDP: B Butler (15); A Escobar (7).
RBI: D Valencia (11).
2-out RBI: D Valencia.
Team LOB: 6.
With RISP: 1 for 6.
Fielding
DP: 3. A Escobar-O Infante-B Butler 2; A Escobar-B Butler.
E: D Valencia (2).
Baserunning
SB: A Gordon (7, 2nd base off C Sale/T Flowers).
| White Sox Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Eaton CF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .284 | .355 | .387 | .743 |
| Alexei Ramirez SS | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .277 | .314 | .393 | .706 |
| Jose Abreu 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .292 | .341 | .619 | .961 |
| Adam Dunn DH | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .223 | .362 | .432 | .794 |
| Dayan Viciedo RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .239 | .290 | .404 | .694 |
| Moises Sierra RF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .210 | .234 | .294 | .528 |
| Conor Gillaspie 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .322 | .373 | .473 | .846 |
| Alejandro De Aza LF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .237 | .310 | .364 | .674 |
| Gordon Beckham 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .230 | .280 | .365 | .645 |
| Tyler Flowers C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .230 | .288 | .325 | .613 |
| Team Totals | 27 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 35 | .222 | .371 | .296 | .668 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
2B: T Flowers (10, off J Guthrie); J Abreu (22, off A Crow).
SF: G Beckham (3, off J Guthrie).
IBB: A Dunn (4, by A Crow).
HBP: A Ramirez (4, by J Guthrie); C Gillaspie (2, by J Guthrie).
TB: T Flowers 2; A Eaton 2; J Abreu 2; C Gillaspie; A Dunn.
GIDP: D Viciedo (15); A Ramirez (14); G Beckham (10).
RBI: A Dunn 2 (39); G Beckham (29).
Team LOB: 8.
With RISP: 2 for 9.
Fielding
DP: 2. A Ramirez-J Abreu; J Petricka-A Ramirez-J Abreu.
Outfield Assists: A De Aza (D Valencia at home plate).
Baserunning
SB: A Eaton (10, 2nd base off J Guthrie/B Hayes).
| Royals Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Guthrie, L (5-9) | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 4.56 | 101 | 54 |
| Aaron Crow | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.61 | 18 | 8 |
| Scott Downs | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.83 | 4 | 4 |
| Jason Frasor | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.26 | 2 | 2 |
| Team Totals | 8 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3.38 | 125 | 68 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
| Chicago Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Sale, W (9-1) | 7 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2.03 | 106 | 68 |
| Ronald Belisario, H (10) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.74 | 11 | 8 |
| Jake Petricka, S (4) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.10 | 14 | 10 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 1.00 | 131 | 86 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
Balks: None.
WP: C Sale (3).
HBP: C Sale (6; D Valencia); J Guthrie 2 (12; A Ramirez, C Gillaspie).
IBB: A Crow (1; A Dunn).
Pickoffs: None.