Adam Engel dived making an attempt to catch Emmanuel Rivera’s slicing liner within the sixth inning Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium.
The Chicago White Sox proper fielder got here up empty and slipped barely as he obtained again to his toes. MJ Melendez scored from first as Rivera raced to 3rd for an RBI triple.
The hit in opposition to reliever Reynaldo López gave the Kansas City Royals the lead. The Royals scored twice within the sixth and Melendez added a two-run homer off Ryan Burr within the eighth as they beat the Sox 6-2 in entrance of 13,504.
“I told (Engel) when he came in, don’t ever lose your aggressiveness,” Sox supervisor Tony La Russa stated. “A pair performs (shortstop) Timmy (Anderson) made, the double play (first baseman José) Abreu made, (second baseman) Leury (García) made some good performs.
“You can’t be trying defensively and not trying offensively. It just doesn’t work that way.”
It was one other inconsistent night time for the offense. The Sox collected 10 hits, together with three singles by Anderson, however went 3-for-13 with runners in scoring place to fall one sport underneath .500 (18-19).
“It’s not acceptable, if the offense is struggling, for the pitchers to say, ‘Hey, get some runs,’” La Russa stated. “What’s acceptable is that if the offense is making an attempt their finest. If that’s the place we’re, then we preserve working at it. And in the event you see one thing that you simply suppose is just not our greatest, then you definitely repair it.
“Same thing as the pitching. You can’t just look at results and say, ‘Oh, why don’t you get somebody out?’ That’s not how we handle it. The fact is, though, that we’ve got to get out of this rut offensively. We’re working on it, hitter by hitter.”
The Sox produced early, taking a 1-0 lead on a two-out RBI single by García within the second. The Royals tied it with a run within the backside of the inning and took the lead on a solo homer by Bobby Witt Jr. within the third in opposition to starter Lucas Giolito.
Giolito allowed two runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and two walks in 5 innings in his return from the COVID-19-related injured record. The right-hander went on the COVID IL on Friday and was reinstated Wednesday.
“Got into a much better rhythm as the game went on,” Giolito stated. “Got clipped within the third inning on a lazy breaking ball, however apart from that I used to be far more happy with the final three than the primary two. I credit score the protection behind me and (catcher Yasmani Grandal) actually carrying me by means of 5 innings, particularly within the early going.
“Unbelievable plays by Tim and Abreu. (Grandal) throwing a guy out. Getting outs like that on situations where I could keep throwing more pitches, they really helped me get through five innings. Not my best, but I’m happy to be back, back in a normal routine.”
The Sox tied the sport on an RBI single by Anderson within the fifth. His hit gave the Sox runners on first and second with one out, however Royals starter Zack Greinke struck out the following two batters.
The Sox loaded the bases with two outs within the sixth, however reliever Collin Snider obtained Andrew Vaughn to floor out to finish the risk.
“We had a lot (nine) left on base,” La Russa stated. “Here’s the issue: I’m not giving a scouting report back to the opposite aspect or our subsequent opponent by figuring out what we’re battling. But we are able to acknowledge it. That’s why we had a couple of minutes (after the sport). (Hitting coaches) Frankie (Menechino) and Howie (Clark) have been in (the supervisor’s workplace) speaking about it.
“You don’t ever give in on it. We’re capable of better and we expect it.”
The Royals made probably the most of their probabilities within the sixth and eighth, dropping the Sox to 6-12 in opposition to American League Central opponents.
The Sox know they need to make offensive changes in the event that they wish to have success.
“All we care about is our issues,” La Russa stated. “The answer is no easy answer. But our hitting coaches know our hitters, our hitters know our hitters. We’ll chip away at it.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com