KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chicago White Sox played one of their better defensive games of the season for most of Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals.
And then came the ninth inning.
The Royals took advantage of a late defensive meltdown and scored twice in the ninth to defeat the Sox 4-3 in front of 15,968 at Kauffman Stadium.
The Sox were only charged with one error in the inning, but there were multiple opportunities for outs that just weren’t made.
The Sox entered the ninth leading 3-2.
Reliever Cam Booser walked the leadoff batter Mark Canha. Drew Waters hit a high popup in the infield. Second baseman Chase Meidroth got under it, but the ball hit off his head for an error.
“I just missed it,” Meidroth said. “It’s a ball that’s got to be caught.”
The Sox still had a potential force play, but right fielder Michael A. Taylor threw wildly to second.
“It was up there for a long time,” manager Will Venable said. “Got to catch the ball. And we weren’t able to convert that force out at second. Tough play.”
Freddy Fermin followed with a bunt single, loading the bases with no outs.
Booser rallied as Kyle Isbel popped out to third baseman Josh Rojas.
Jonathan India then hit a grounder up the middle. Shortstop Jacob Amaya made a nice diving stop, but his toss to second was off the mark. India was credited with a single as Canha scored the game-tying run.
The Sox brought Brooks Baldwin in from left field to serve as a fifth infielder. Bobby Witt Jr. then hit a long fly to center that dropped in for the game-winning single.
“There were outs to get there,” Venable said. “We’ve got to do a better job and convert those balls into outs. A really good game until then. These guys have been doing a great job defensively. We’ll go back to work and try again tomorrow.”
Meidroth added, “It’s a tough one. It’s one that’s got to be won. But there’s tomorrow. Don’t dwell on it too long. And get back tomorrow and playing.”
The Sox jumped out to a lead with the help of timely hitting and some stellar defense.
Baldwin drove in Matt Thaiss with a single in the fourth. Thaiss scored again in the sixth when India couldn’t field Andrew Vaughn’s grounder to third base and was charged with an error.
Isbel homered against Sox starter Sean Burke in the sixth, cutting the Sox lead to 2-1. But that was the only hiccup by Burke, who allowed the one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Josh Rojas extended the Sox lead to 3-1 with an RBI single in the eighth.
Defensively, the first baseman Vaughn made a nice running catch on a foul pop in the third inning and Baldwin made a strong throw in the fourth inning from left field to second to cut down Vinnie Pasquantino, who was trying to stretch a single into a double.
But with two outs and Pasquantino on first in the eighth, Salvador Perez hit a liner that appeared playable but went over Baldwin’s head for a run-scoring double.
“I don’t know if he had a great read on the ball,” Venable said. “You’ve got to get back there to make that play. Another ball that probably should be caught. Brooks has been doing a great job out there. It’s a tough play, those balls from a right-handed hitter in left that are hit right at you. Takes a little second to gauge the depth there. And was just a step short.”
Amaya snared a liner hit by Maikel Garcia for the final out of the eighth as the Sox held on to the 3-2 lead.
The Sox were on the verge of bouncing back after Monday’s 3-0 loss. Instead, they suffered their most devastating defeat of the season when things fell apart in the ninth.
“Tough loss, no doubt about it,” Venable said. “We played a really good game up there until the ninth inning. Just like every game, we’ll evaluate what we can do better the next time and got a chance to go out and get one tomorrow.”
Venable expressed “all the confidence in the world” that Meidroth will rebound.
“This guy’s a gamer,” Venable said. “He’s going to turn the page and go out there tomorrow and give us everything he’s got. We’ll talk to him, make sure he’s in a good spot. But he’ll be fine.”
