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What we learned after Kansas City Royals bizarrely tied it up in ninth

By Leigh Oleszczak

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 28: Jorge Soler of the Kansas City Royals (Right) is greeted by Ryan O'Hearn after hitting a two run home run against the Chicago White Sox during the seventh inning. All players are wearing #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. The day honoring Jackie Robinson, traditionally held on April 15, was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic on August 28, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 28: Jorge Soler of the Kansas City Royals (Right) is greeted by Ryan O'Hearn after hitting a two run home run against the Chicago White Sox during the seventh inning. All players are wearing #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. The day honoring Jackie Robinson, traditionally held on April 15, was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic on August 28, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images) /
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The Kansas City Royals lost to the White Sox on Friday night, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. The offense kept them in the game time and time again.

Trailing 5-4 in the ninth inning, the Kansas City Royals had one of the most bizarre series of events and ended up tying the game at 5-5. Unfortunately, Ian Kennedy coughed up the game winning run in the bottom of the ninth, but let’s touch on the top of the inning because that was insane.

First, Jorge Soler lined out to record the first out of the inning. Ryan O’Hearn then walked and Bubba Starling came in to pinch run for him. That all was pretty simple, but things were about to get interesting as Maikel Franco came to the plate.

Franco doubled and was caught in a run down between first and second base. He eventually made it to second base with the tag being just offline. After Franco was ruled safe, Starling took off and with the White Sox catcher not paying attention, the ball went through his legs and Starling tied it up!

After the umpires looked things over, the call at second base stood, making it a 5-5 game after the top of the ninth. As I mentioned earlier, it didn’t take long for the White Sox to walk things off in the bottom of the inning, but at least the Royals offense showed some oomph.

What did we learn about the Kansas City Royals in their 6-5 loss?

Ian Kennedy doesn’t have it anymore. He has an ERA of 7.90 and has struggled throughout the season. Fortunately, his contract is up after this year and the Royals will finally have that deal off the books.

Speaking of struggling, Adalberto Mondesi is having a really tough time at the plate this year. He went 0-for-5 and his batting average is down to .205. It’s clear that he’s frustrated, but unfortunately with Mondesi being out of options, the Royals can’t send him to the alternate site.

With the loss, the Royals are now 12-20 on the year and while they’re theoretically still alive in the postseason hunt, it’s going to be an uphill battle the rest of the way. They can’t keep blowing games like these, especially when their offense pulls out all the stops to put them in position to win.

The Royals face the White Sox two more times in this series and hopefully they can pull out the next two wins to secure a series victory.

Thirty-two games down, 28 to go!

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