KANSAS CITY, Mo. — First game of a series? First loss of the series.
So it always seems to go for the White Sox, who lost to the Royals 4-2 Tuesday in Game 1 of a doubleheader to fall to 12-23 in the opening game of a series.
How to fix it?
“Play better,” manager Tony La Russa said after the latest one.
Rookie Davis Martin pitched better in Game 2 than veteran Lance Lynn did in Game 1, and the Sox hit the long ball better with two homers in Game 2 for a 3-2 win.
Rookie Lenyn Sosa and Yoan Moncada supplied the needed power in the nightcap, helping the Sox (56-54) gain a split for the day against the 45-66 Royals. Sosa, who could see some extended play at shortstop with Tim Anderson out for six weeks, homered against Jonathan Heasley in his first at-bat. Martin, called up from Triple-A Charlotte as the 27th man for the twin bill, pitched 5 2⁄3 innings of one-run ball.
Gavin Sheets doubled in pinch runner Luis Robert with the Sox third run in the eighth to make it 3-1, a run that became big after closer Liam Hendriks gave up a run in the Royals ninth.
After splitting four games in Texas to open an important road trip last week, a series that began with a 3-2 loss, the Sox struggled to score in Game 1 against right-hander Brady Singer who held them to one run on five hits over 7 1/3 innings. The Sox have scored two or fewer runs in four of the first five games on the road trip.
Lynn gave up two-run homers to Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto after Josh Harrison had given the Sox a 1-0 lead with his sixth homer.
Lynn had little to say after the game.
“Two pitches cost me four runs,” said Lynn, who has allowed 13 homers in his 11 starts this season.
Asked if there’s anything to identify that would explain the trend, Lynn said, “Yeah, when they hit it, it goes over the fence.”
Lynn (2-5, 5.88 ERA) would have needed to hold the Royals (45-65) to one or zero runs to give the Sox a chance to win. He went six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out five.
Starting the day trailing the Twins by two games in the AL Central, the Sox swung early and often against Singer (5-4, 3.49), who threw 16 pitches in the first two innings and needed only 51 through the first five. Leury Garcia, Moncada and Jose Abreu hit balls to the warning track for outs, so the Sox were not without some hard contact.
The Sox had multiple runners on in the final two innings but got one run from the opportunities, on Moncada’s sacrifice fly in the eighth.The Royals are 6-7 against the Sox this season.
Splitsville
The last time the Sox swept a doubleheader from the Royals was April 22, 1972, in Chicago. They have never swept the Royals in Kansas City. The last Royals sweep against the Sox was on Aug. 6, 1976 in Chicago. The teams have played 26 doubleheaders against each other.
This and that
Right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (back strain) was reinstated from the injured list and pitched a scoreless seventh in Game 2. Lopez touched 99 and 100 mph.
*Joe Kelly ran his scoreless appearance streak to 12 in Game 1.
*Eloy Jimenez is 23-for-56 (.411) over his last 15 games. Jimenez singled three times and walked in Game 2.
