Pair of droughts doused as White Sox shut out, stand up to Royals
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KANSAS CITY -- The streak is over.
No, this is not a recreation of "All My Children's" Susan Lucci winning an Outstanding Lead Actress Award in the 1999 Daytime Emmys after the icon lost 18 straight nominations. It’s about the White Sox claiming victory at Kauffman Stadium on Thursday night with a 2-0 decision.
That shutout ended a 14-game White Sox losing streak at Kauffman, dating back to April 4, 2024, which was tied for the longest streak in franchise history vs. any single road opponent (STATS). The White Sox also lost 14 in a row at the Twins from April 11, 2023 - April 23, 2025.
“I didn't even know about that,” said White Sox catcher Edgar Quero, who had two hits and anchored a stellar mound effort. “I played a couple times last year here. It's a big park. It's tough to hit here. But I feel happy to get the win tonight.”
“Any win you get is great, and certainly with the history of how we’ve played in this ballpark, I did see some of that last year where it was seven games and some tough losses here,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “We’re excited about every win. And certainly to come to this ballpark where we haven’t been playing well and to play well was nice, too.”
Suffice it to say there have been some nightmare moments at this ballpark for the South Siders, when the team was at its best and its worst, without going into vast detail. Those sort of rough, gut-churning situations did not play out in the opener of this four-game set, and it was Anthony Kay who set the tone.
In the process, Kay ended an individual winless streak of his own. The veteran southpaw, who has pitched the last two years in Japan, had not picked up a victory since June 24, 2021, when the Blue Jays toppled the Orioles, 9-0, at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, N.Y. Kay struck out eight over five scoreless on that night, with current White Sox backstop Reese McGuire as his catcher.
Against the Royals, Kay fanned six, walked two and yielded three hits as he tied his career high with 5 2/3 innings pitched. His offspeed stuff was crisp, but he also hit 98.4 mph with the four-seamer, according to Statcast.
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Pitchers’ wins aren’t really in vogue at this point. But getting the individual and team victory Thursday certainly meant something to Kay.
“Oh, for sure,” Kay said. “Any time you can put the team into a good position to win the game and have the bullpen and the rest of the team finish it, it definitely feels good.”
“You got to give credit to that whole pitching staff,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “That was nine innings of 96-plus velo. They pitched in to righties. His sinker was really good, hard. He threw a lot more strikes than he has been. He really threw the sweeper when he needed to, the cutter was hard. It was an impressive pitching performance.”
Grant Taylor, Jordan Leasure and Seranthony Domínguez finished off the notable win. Domínguez struck out Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. to end it after walking Isaac Collins on four pitches to start the ninth.
Royals starter Seth Lugo allowed two runs (one earned) over 6 1/3 innings, but it was enough offense for the White Sox. Colson Montgomery doubled home Munetaka Murakami for the game’s first run in the fourth, and Luisangel Acuña added a sacrifice fly in the seventh in a frame extended by first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino’s throwing error.
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Pasquantino then had a chance to put the Royals in control in the bottom of the frame against Taylor, with runners on first and second and two outs. But his hard-hit grounder was grabbed by second baseman Chase Meidroth, who knocked the ball down and recovered to nail Pasquantino at first by a few steps.
It’s not just the luck in Kansas City changing for the White Sox, who improved to 5-8 overall and ended a three-game losing streak. Kay hit Jac Caglianone with a 3-1 changeup, coming high and inside, as the last hitter he faced in the sixth -- and Caglianone took apparent umbrage, with extended eye contact as he moved toward first.
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There was no real engagement from Kay. But he also clearly didn’t back down.
“Those guys like to chirp a little bit, it seems like,” Kay said. “I don’t think we are going to take that anymore. We are going to go right at them.”
Just as they did on Sept. 6, 2023, when the White Sox last won at Kauffman. Touki Toussaint started and earned the victory, with Bryan Shaw getting the save.