KANSAS CITY -- In a tight game in the late innings, a relief pitcher puts a premium on retiring the first hitter he faces. But the White Sox went 0-for-3 in that department when it counted on Friday night and it cost them in a 6-4 loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Chicago starter Ivan Nova was solid through five innings and he took a 2-1 lead to the sixth, when he ran into some trouble. Kansas City tied the game and had the bases loaded when Evan Marshall came on in relief to face Cheslor Cuthbert. That duel went to Cuthbert, who delivered a two-run single to right for a 4-2 Royals lead.

The White Sox rallied to tie the game in the seventh, but reliever Jace Fry walked leadoff hitter Billy Hamilton on four pitches to start the bottom half of the inning. Fry wound up surrendering a go-ahead RBI single to Adalberto Mondesi. Then came reliever Juan Minaya, who also had big problems with the first man he faced. Jorge Soler lined an RBI double to left and the Royals were back up by two.

• Box score

First batter efficiency? It just wasn’t happening for the Chicago bullpen.

“I thought Ivan kept us in the ballgame,” manager Rick Renteria said. “We tried to help him out there with the bases loaded when Evan came in. Evan was going in [on Cuthbert] and I think he missed middle-up on that ball to the right side.”

Maybe the bullpen wouldn’t have been needed as much if Nova hadn’t encountered some extremely tough luck in the sixth.

“What can I tell you? I know the number doesn’t look too good, but feel like I pitched better than the number shows,” Nova said.

In the sixth, the first two Royals hitters reached with seeing-eye weak grounders. Whit Merrifield’s roller to the left side barely eluded third baseman Yoan Moncada and shortstop Tim Anderson couldn’t make a play. Then, Alex Gordon hit a routine roller that went through the shortstop hole because the White Sox were shifted to the right side.

“He was keeping the ball down,” Renteria said.

Although the Royals tied the game on Mondesi’s double and they had runners at second and third with none out, Nova made a strong bid to keep the game tied. He struck out Soler and the right-hander had a 2-2 count on Ryan O’Hearn, when his next pitch was called ball three. Nova didn’t think so at the time and he became convinced postgame that it was a strikeout after looking at the video.

“It was right in the middle,” Nova said. “He [plate umpire Chad Fairchild] thought it was low. I came in, watched the video, and it was right in the middle. So, no luck.”

All in all, a frustrating night for Nova and a rough one for the bullpen. It was just the second time this season that the White Sox have lost after leading through five innings.

“Our ‘pen has been very good in helping us out of situations like that,” Renteria said. “But today, it just didn’t work out.”