Despite outhitting the Royals 12-6, Garrett Crochet taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning and the bullpen being spotted with a one-run lead with just nine outs to go, the White Sox still managed to find themselves on the wrong end of a 5-3 final at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday.
It marked the White Sox's ninth loss of the season and was arguably the most winnable game of the bunch. The White Sox deserve credit for finding creative new ways to throw away ballgames. A lack of situational hitting, defense, all bullpen combined forces to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
After being shut out the night before the offense responded with eight hits through the first five innings. The Sox took a 3-0 lead courtesy of a Dominic Fletcher RBI double, Braden Shewmake sacrifice fly and Andrew Benintendi RBI single. That seemed to be more than enough for Garrett Crochet who tied Chris Sale for the most strikeouts in his first three starts in franchise history. Crochet retired the first 11 batters he faced, drew 15 swings and misses, and struck out five through four innings.
However, the hard-throwing lefty ran into trouble in the fifth inning after Royals left fielder Hunter Renfroe parlayed a leadoff single into a two-run homer to cut the deficit to one. Crochet would escape the inning with no further damage but White Sox manager Pedro Grifol chose to pull him after just 77 pitches out of caution.
“He’s got the making of a big-time starter. Obviously, he was our Opening Day guy,” Grifol said after the game. “Every time he goes out there and starts, we’re in uncharted territory. We have to be cognizant of that and careful in how we push.”
Crochet’s shortest start of his young career left the bullpen with 12 outs to cover to earn a win. Steven Wilson did his job in the sixth inning but the wheels fell off in the seventh when Devi Garcia entered the game.
Garcia walked Nelson Velazquez to open the frame then gave up a two-run shot to MJ Melendez a batter later. Much has been made about the offense this season, but it was the defense that let the White Sox down on Sunday.
After Melandez’s homer, Royals catcher Freddy Fermin reached second base after Flectcher misplayed a ball in center field. Despite the error, Robbie Grossman still had an opportunity to gun down Fermin at second base but his throw missed the mark. Fermin would come around to score thanks to a Dominic Leone throwing error that allowed Kyle Isbel to reach safely. It marked the White Sox third error of the afternoon which was tied for the most they have had in any game this season.
Even after squandering what was once a three-run lead the offense had opportunities to fight back. The White Sox had a runner-in-scoring position in each of the last three innings. They stranded two in the seventh, one in the eighth, and two in the ninth to cap off an ugly four game series sweep in Kansas City. The loss drops them to 0-7 in the American League Central.
“Now I think the guys are starting to realize we are not playing good enough ball and I think that guys are starting to get pissed,” Crochet told reporters after the loss. “ We need to turn the corner soon. Everybody has some evaluating to do, myself included.”
