The Chicago White Sox were one out from escaping a bases-loaded jam in the 10th inning Thursday against the Kansas City Royals.
A passed ball and a two-run single later, the Sox were headed toward their ninth loss in 10 games.
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The Royals scored three runs in the 10th and beat the Sox 5-2 in front of 11,242 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“It is cruel, I think,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “You have bases loaded, two outs, lefty against lefty and you think, ‘Wow, we get this out and we can score a run and win.’ All of a sudden, there’s three on the board.
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“This game will drive you nuts.”
La Russa noted that “a lot went on in that game besides the 10th inning.”
It was another tough day at the plate for the Sox, who finished with five hits and walked just once. Royals starter Brad Keller allowed one run — a sixth-inning homer by Leury García — on three hits in seven innings.
“He pitched really well,” La Russa said. “He made a lot of good pitches, but both offenses, they didn’t score much either. The ball that (Sox catcher) Reese (McGuire) hit (in the eighth), thought it was out of the park but the wind kept it in. But they hit some balls hard too.
“Tough day to hit, good time to pitch.”
Sox starter Michael Kopech allowed two runs on three hits with three strikeouts and four walks in five innings. He threw a career-high 94 pitches.
“Just didn’t have my sharpest stuff,” Kopech said. “Didn’t execute what I did have early on. I had to fight through what I had. I’ve just got to be more prepared for the next one.”
The Sox tied the game at 2 in the eighth when pinch runner Josh Harrison scored on AJ Pollock’s sacrifice fly to left.
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Sox reliever Aaron Bummer got a double play to wrap up the ninth. With closer Liam Hendriks recovering from back spasms and Kendall Graveman unavailable after pitching two innings Wednesday, Bummer returned for the 10th.
A walk to Carlos Santana, the Royals’ second in the inning, loaded the bases with one out. Bummer struck out Bobby Witt Jr. for the second out.
But McGuire couldn’t handle a 1-0 high sinker to Kyle Isbel, and Whit Merrifield scored to break the tie.
“The ball sailed on him. I’m not sure what (happened),” La Russa said. “You watch the game he caught today, he was one reason we had a chance late into the 10th inning. He just did a great job. I don’t know what happened on that one.”
Isbel drove in two insurance runs with a single to left on the next pitch.
“In the first two, three weeks of the season, I’ve put my team in some pretty crappy situations,” Bummer said. “Whether it’s guys having to come in behind me or just not making pitches when I need to, so simply I need to get better. The way I’ve been throwing the ball isn’t the way I want to throw the ball. It’s not the way that I know that I can.
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“I found a couple of things that were one pitch away, but at the end of the day I’m not making those pitches. You can take it for what it is, but it’s a game of wins and losses. It’s a game of doing your job or not doing your job. Whether or not being one pitch away, I didn’t do my job. The balls that were put in play were ground balls, so that’s a positive. The walks and things, all those things have got to go away.”
La Russa said Bummer, who has a 7.04 ERA in eight relief appearances, is pressing.
“There’s a guy that’s trying too hard,” La Russa said. “You put your arm around him and tell him, ‘We’re with you and things will get better.’”
The Sox have dropped three straight series, each against division foes (the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Royals).
“We’ve just got to play our game,” Bummer said. “We’re obviously not playing the way we want to. Just keep grinding, keep going through this.
“We expected everyone to be coming for us. We’re now the hunted in this division, and everybody in this division made some moves to take a step forward and we did too. It’s a long season. It’s been (18) games. We’ve just got to keep going, keep pushing through.”
