Royals drop series opener to White Sox 6-5 on a walk-off homer by Yasmani Grandal
The ball rolled through the legs of Chicago White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal as he looked into the dugout and urged his manager to challenge the call.
Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals took advantage of that lapse in focus to score the tying run in the top of the ninth inning. It certainly looked as though things had broken the Royals’ way with very little time to spare.
Instead, their heavily-taxed bullpen fell victim to a walk-off heart-breaker for the second consecutive game.
Grandal smashed a 2-1 fastball from relief pitcher Ian Kennedy over the right-field wall for a solo home run to hand the Royals a 6-5 loss in the series opener at Guaranteed Rate Field Friday night in Chicago. The White Sox have won 10 of their last 11 games.
“I was trying to throw a fastball down and away and just yanked it more middle,” Kennedy said. “It’s pretty much as simple as that. I was trying to go down and away 2-1. The mentality was there. I just yanked it, pulled it over the plate and it cost us the ballgame.”
Right-hander Trevor Rosenthal, who has seven saves this season, was not available. The Royals used five relievers after starter Danny Duffy pitched the first 5 2/3.
The Royals have now lost eight one-run games, including back-to-back walk-off losses. They suffered a walk-off loss by the same score Wednesday night in St. Louis. They’ve also played 19 games (out of 32) decided by two runs or fewer.
The Royals scored two runs in the seventh inning to tie the game 4-4. Then after falling behind 5-4, they scored in the ninth when a rundown led to just enough confusion for some misdirection.
“It was just great to see our guys come back and tie the game up in the ninth,” Kennedy said. “I think that’s what was the hardest part, that we fought so hard to get back every time in that game — multiple times — and give the lead up and get walked off like that. It’s one of the worst feelings as a reliever, getting walked off.”
Royals and White Sox hitters combined on five home runs. The White Sox (20-12) came into the game leading the American League with 59 home runs, a franchise record through 31 games.
Whit Merrifield and Jorge Soler homered for the Royals (12-20). Alex Gordon had three hits, while Ryan O’Hearn had a hit, an RBI and three walks in the loss.
Soler’s line-drive two-run homer over the right-field wall in the seventh inning tied the score 4-4. Last year’s American League home-run champion, Soler now has eight this season.
Yoan Moncada’s RBI single off Scott Barlow in the bottom of the seventh put the White Sox temporarily back in front 5-4.
O’Hearn’s one-out walk in the ninth gave the Royals a desperately needed base runner. Bubba Starling pinch ran for O’Hearn with Maikel Franco coming to the plate. Franco belted a line drive towards left-center field. Starling went first-to-third and Franco got caught too far between first and second.
“As soon as I hit the ball, in my mind I know the ball is going to be in the gap” Franco said. “(First base coach Damon) Hollins said, ‘Right here.’ But I didn’t even hear what he said right. After that I just tried to stay in the rundown as long as I can be. If I make it to second, something good is going to happen for us.”
Franco was called safe as he dove into second with White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu reaching to make the tag. Abreu threw home to assure Starling didn’t score, but Grandal’s attention had already turned to the dugout as he implored his manager to challenge the play at second.
The ball rolled through Grandal’s legs and allowed Starling to come home with the tying run. Franco advanced to third base.
“Despite all those times that we did come back, we still missed a lot of opportunities,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “Talking about the (second), the third, the ninth, where we’ve got situational hitting that got away from us again. Those are going to come back and haunt us every single time we’re playing against a really good team, and this is a good team. We were fortunate to still be in it when we were.”
The Royals stranded 11 men on base. They had runners on the corners with no outs to start the second inning, but did not score. They scored two in the third on Merrifield’s solo homer and O’Hearn’s RBI single, but they stranded two men on after having no outs. They also stranded Franco at third in the ninth.
Royals starting pitcher Danny Duffy allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and one walk in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up a pair of home runs, which accounted for the White Sox’ first three runs. The fourth run charged to him came after he left the game with two outs in the sixth.
“My confidence is unshook with those guys (in the bullpen),” Duffy said. “They’ve picked me up more times than I can count. Truth be told in terms of tonight, we shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. With the stuff that I had out there tonight, I should’ve gone way deeper into that game.
“I know I got into the sixth. I had more that I could’ve done. I know the end result is what it is, and however it got there, it got there. But that’s on me. I’ve got to go deeper into that game. I’m better than that. My mistakes echoed into the eighth and the ninth in that game.”
Players, managers and coaches from both teams wore the jersey No. 42 as MLB honored the memory of Jackie Robinson. Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, and became the first African American ballplayer in MLB’s modern era.
MLB typically honors Robinson on April 15, the anniversary of him having broken the color barrier. However, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic caused MLB to pause spring training for more than three months and delayed the start of a shortened season until July.
This story was originally published August 28, 2020 at 10:59 PM.
