Tough ending overshadows improved White Sox pitching, offense

CHICAGO -- Striking out Kansas City superstar Bobby Witt Jr. with the game on the line usually is a harbinger of good things to come for the opposing hurler and his team.

That’s exactly what White Sox rookie Grant Taylor did in the eighth inning Tuesday night at Rate Field, with Witt standing at the plate as the go-ahead run with two runners on base, preserving a two-run lead. But the hard-throwing right-hander couldn’t get through the ninth.

The Royals rallied for three runs in the final frame against Taylor and Tyler Alexander, handing the South Siders a gut-wrenching 5-4 setback to end Chicago’s three-game winning streak. White Sox pitching had thrown 27 straight scoreless innings dating back to the eighth inning of Saturday’s victory over the Twins, but allowed five runs over the last two frames Tuesday.

“Tough game. Really well-played game,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “A nice job by our offense and some great plays defensively as well.

“Just sometimes you get beat. I thought Kansas City did a great job putting the ball in play and finding some holes, and they really earned their way on base.”

Taylor relieved Jordan Leasure with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning, but gave up a two-run single to Maikel Garcia on a first-pitch fastball out of the zone. Taylor then fanned Witt with a slider, leaving him at six pitches coming into the ninth.

Vinnie Pasquantino, Mike Yastrzemski and Jonathan India singled to load the bases with one out in the ninth before the left-handed Alexander was brought in to face left-handed-hitting Michael Massey, Adam Frazier and Kyle Isbel. Massey singled home two to tie the game, and after Frazier was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Isbel singled to center for the game-winner.

Giving up three runs in two-thirds of an inning to raise his ERA to 5.53 was certainly not in the plans for Taylor. It’s also part of the Major League learning curve.

“Yeah, I mean, got ahead of guys, threw first-pitch strikes,” Taylor said. “Pasquantino was 0-2, and I can’t throw a ball in the zone to him. Stinks that a broken bat ended up being a single, but it is what it is. A couple of mistakes to [India], made a mistake to him, he gets a hit. Bases loaded.

“There’s something to be gained from everything. Some good takeaways from successes and there’s takeaways from failures. Sucks there’s more to take away from tonight but tomorrow is a new day.”

Martín Pérez set up the White Sox for a series victory by throwing seven scoreless innings on 85 pitches. His sinker was particularly effective, as the veteran has not allowed an earned run over 12 1/3 innings covering two starts since his return from a left elbow issue which cost him four months.

Pérez yielded one run in 3 1/3 innings of relief against Detroit upon his return to the rotation on Aug. 13.

“It seemed like everything we were trying to do, he was doing the opposite,” said Royals manager Matt Quatraro on Pérez. “If we looked in, he went away, and vice versa. If he went down, we were looking up. There wasn’t a lot of hard contact. I’m sure we chased a little bit, too, some of the changeups. But he knows how to pitch.”

“I feel good,” Pérez said. “Just enjoyed it, man. I'm healthy. I'm able to do whatever I want with the strike zone, and I'm just doing my job.”

Colson Montgomery delivered the White Sox initial run with a first-pitch home run off Michael Lorenzen in the second, hitting the left-field foul pole to give Montgomery his fourth straight game with a long ball. The team record is five, done seven times, with A.J. Pierzynski being the last one to accomplish such a feat in 2012.

Montgomery became the fourth White Sox rookie to homer in four consecutive games, joining Ron Kittle (five games in 1983), Rich McKinney (four in ‘70) and Matt Davidson (four in ‘17), per Elias. Kyle Teel, who had a second consecutive three-hit game, and Lenyn Sosa both singled home runs during a three-run sixth, seemingly putting the White Sox in control.

Not only did they eventually lose the game, but the White Sox also lost center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who exited in the top of the fourth with left hamstring soreness after running out a grounder in the second.

“A couple steps before he got to first base running down the line there, just some left hamstring tightness,” Venable said. “So he's being evaluated and we'll have some more information [Wednesday]."