KANSAS CITY, Mo. — No, a new hitting coach in his first hours on the job couldn’t really be blamed for Kansas City’s offensive failings in a 5-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Monday night at Kauffman Stadium.
Regardless, Alec Zumwalt’s first day in uniform basically showed a representation of the challenge he now faces: tasked with fixing yearlong struggles while seeing glimpses of what KC’s offense be when things go right.
The Royals fired hitting coach Terry Bradshaw on Monday morning and replaced him with Zumwalt, the team’s senior director for player development and hitting performance. That came for a Royals team off to a disappointing start with an offense that ranked bottom-five in most major statistical categories.
For the early going, the bats were silent again ... while also going against a familiar but not-particularly intimidating starting pitcher.
Veteran Johnny Cueto — a former Royal called up from the minors for his first outing in 2022 — baffled KC early, pitching six shutout innings while allowing just two hits with seven strikeouts.
That set up KC’s heroics late, even if they wouldn’t be enough.
Trailing 3-0 in the eighth, the Royals got an infield hit from Michael A. Taylor and pinch-hit single from Ryan O’Hearn before Kyle Isbel struck out. After that, though, Whit Merrifield blasted it to the base of the wall in left for a two-RBI double, advancing to third on the throw home.
Andrew Benintendi tied it four pitches later, lacing a run-scoring single to right for the third run off White Sox reliever Kendall Graveman.
Luis Robert followed with the game-winning blow in the 10th off Scott Barlow, sending a two-out, two-run home run to the seats in left-center.
The Royals (12-21) will continue their five-game series against the White Sox with a day-night doubleheader Tuesday; game times are set for 1:10 and 6:10 p.m.
