The Kansas City Royals let too many scoring chances pass by without making a significant dent in the scoring column. Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox cashed in their chances and sent the Royals to the next stop on their road trip with a sour taste in their mouths.
With right-hander Daniel Mengden making the spot start on the mound, the Royals scored just one run in a 7-1 loss to the White Sox in front of an announced 15,257 in the finale of the tree-game series on Thursday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago.
The Royals (53-79) have now lost two of their last three games to start the road trip. They’ll begin a three-game series in Detroit on Friday night.
Royals catcher Salvador Perez returned to the starting lineup. He went 0 for 5 in the series finale after he’d been scratched shortly before Wednesday night’s game due to back tightness.
Royals rookie second baseman Michael Massey reached base four times. The Illinois native went 3 for 3 with a walk and a double. Fellow rookie Drew Waters went 2 for 3 with a double and a run scored. Waters also made an eye-opening catch against the fence in the second inning.
Nicky Lopez (1 for 3, walk), MJ Melendez (1 for 5, RBI) and Bobby Witt Jr. (1 for 5) also had hits for the Royals.
The Royals went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position, and they stranded 11 men on base.
Mengden, who signed as a minor-league free agent during the offseason, was called up from Triple-A and added to the roster prior to the game.
Mengden, who appeared out of the bullpen in the majors earlier this season, pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits and one walk. Two of his three runs came on a two-run homer blasted by White Sox left fielder Andrew Vaughn.
The Royals scored the game’s first run on a fielder’s choice ground ball by Melendez in the third inning. He drove in Waters, who singled to lead off the inning.
Vaughn’s homer capped a three-run bottom half of the inning for the White Sox (65-66). Leury Garcia singled, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on an Elvis Andrus RBI single to set the table for Vaughn’s two-run smash into the left-field stands.
The Royals loaded the bases in the top of the sixth inning after Jose Abreu committed a fielding error on a ball scorched by Nick Pratto, Massey drew a one-out walk and Waters reached with two outs via catcher’s interference when his swing hit the glove of White Sox backstop Yasmani Grandal.
However, Lopez grounded out to end the threat.
In the bottom half of the sixth, the White Sox scored two more runs. Four of the first five White Sox batters reached base. Royals reliever Brad Keller gave up a walk and a pair of one-out singles, including an RBI single by Garcia. Romy Gonzalez also smacked an RBI double.
The White Sox led 5-1 after six innings.
They tacked on two more insurance runs in the eighth inning against Royals left-hander Anthony Misiewicz. Grandal’s ground-rule double preceded a two-run homer by AJ Pollock. Misiewicz finished the outing (two innings) with six strikeouts.
September call-ups
Along with Mengden, the Royals added outfielder Nate Eaton to the major-league roster prior to Thursday’s game.
MLB rosters expanded from 26 players to 28 players on September 1. Each team is limited to 14 pitchers on their 28-man roster, which meant the Royals could add just one pitcher and one position player.
Mengden’s stay in the majors could be short. The Royals sent right-hander Max Castillo back to the minors after a strong start against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 18. He’d be eligible to return to the majors this weekend after serving the mandatory 15 days in the minors after being optioned.
The Royals optioned Castillo on August 20. Saturday would mark his 15th day in the minors.
