The White Sox had the perfect setup Wednesday night in Kansas City. Cleveland lost.
First place in the AL Central was there for the taking. All Chicago needed was a win over the Royals.
Instead, the Sox came up short, falling 5-4 and leaving the opening untouched.
Kansas City jumped on Bryan Hudson right away and never let the game settle into the opener plan the Sox had in mind. Carter Jensen and Bobby Witt Jr. started the night with singles, and after Jac Caglianone grounded out, Maikel Garcia lined a two-run hit.
Vinnie Pasquantino followed with a double to bring home another run. By the time Will Venable turned to Erick Fedde, the Royals had already seized control.
Fedde got Salvador Perez for a strikeout, but Kansas City added an unearned run on a bad throw by Colson Montgomery before John Rave finally ended the inning with a flyout. That made it 4-0, and the Sox had dug a deep early hole.
Then Chicago finally woke up.
Chase Meidroth opened the third with a bunt single, Braden Montgomery added a hit, and Sam Antonacci was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Kyle Teel cashed in with a two-run single, Miguel Vargas followed with an RBI knock, and Munetaka Murakami doubled in the tying run. Just like that, the Sox had erased the four-run deficit and batted around in the inning.
They had more waiting for them in the fourth, too. Braden Montgomery and Antonacci opened with back-to-back singles, forcing Seth Lugo out of the game.
Anthony Gose then walked Teel to load the bases with one out. But Vargas grounded into a double play, and the rally died right there.
That was the story of Chicago’s night. Four runs in the third, another bases-loaded chance in the fourth, and nothing to show for it when the game turned again.
Fedde steadied things after the rough opening, finishing with no runs allowed on four hits and two walks over 2 2/3 innings. Sean Newcomb bailed the Sox out in the fourth by striking out Jensen and getting Witt to ground into a double play. Hagen Smith worked the sixth with two strikeouts.
The tie didn’t last long. In the seventh, Jensen singled, Witt reached on a force out, and Garcia doubled home the go-ahead run to put Kansas City back in front, 5-4. That was all the Royals needed.
Lucas Erceg worked a clean eighth in just nine pitches. Steven Cruz handled the ninth, striking out Meidroth on three pitches and Montgomery on five to close the door.
Montgomery’s strikeout was also another unwanted milestone. He is now tied Adam Dunn’s White Sox single-season record with 222 strikeouts.
That leads all of MLB this season and leaves him one shy of Mark Reynolds’ all-time record of 223, set in 2009. Two more strikeouts would give him the record outright, and with four games left, that mark looks close to inevitable.
Braden Montgomery singled with two outs in the ninth to give Antonacci one last chance, but he flew out to finish the game.
The Royals spoiled the opportunity, but Chicago helped them along. The Sox erased a four-run deficit, wasted a bases-loaded chance, and then couldn’t hold the line when it mattered.
Cleveland opened the door. The White Sox never walked through it.
Cold Cat
Bryan Hudson: 1/3 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER)
Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery: 0-for-4, 3 K, E
Tristan Peters: 0-for-3
Hagen Smith: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 K, L
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