A followed-from-work bullet-point recap with a lot of bullets:
*Tim Anderson homered against the Royals again. Anderson pimped it again. The Royals got pissed again. This time, Brad Keller drilled him in the ass with his first pitch the next time they met, the benches cleared, and Joe West ejected both parties for some reason.
*Actually, I may know the reason.
*West rewarded the Royals for their bloodlust, because it shortened the White Sox' bench in a game where they could've used a few more options. Like Adam Engel with the bases loaded. Yonder Alonso against a sidewinding lefty with runners on second and third. Engel again.
*Also, Daniel Palka had to take Yoan Moncada's spot in the lineup because Moncada took a Martin Maldonado throw to the helmet on a stolen base. Palka did come through with a broken-bat hit his first time up to snap his 0-for-32 drought, but then he grounded a 2-0 pitch into a double play with the bases loaded, and then grounded out to end the game.
*The White Sox optioned Palka to Charlotte after the game, with a corresponding move coming Thursday in Detroit.
*Who else did the Sox lose? Rick Renteria got ejected for nearly throwing down in the pile, but the corresonding party on the Royals' side -- pitching coach Cal Eldred or a guy next to him -- did not.
*Also, Lucas Giolito departed with hamstring tightness in the middle of the best start to any start this year. He had retired eight of nine batters he faced, five by strikeout courtesy of nine swinging strikes over 36 pitches. He had an awkward landing on his penultimate pitch, tried once more and looked even more affected.
*Anderson busted open a scoreless game with a majetstic homer to left, 418 feet away. He then responded with the kind of flair MLB promotes on its social media properties:
*Anderson might've rejoiced because his homer overwrote a bad send by Nick Capra, who tried to score Jose Abreu from first on the arms of Alex Gordon and Adalberto Mondesi.
*The next time up, Keller gave MLB another highlight to post on its Twitter account:
*Keller got ejected, but so did Anderson for reasons unclear.
*Anderson had already played himself, as he bobbled away one of two potential double-play balls in the top of the fifth. The Royals loaded the bases with one out, and while Josh Osich struck out Adalberto Mondesi to start his White Sox debut, Alex Gordon muscled a grounder up the middle to tie the game. Engel's throw home was not a good one, bouncing past James McCann on its 27th hop.
*Hunter Dozier was the hero. He singled in the Royals' first go-ahead run in the seventh after Jose Ruiz made the poor decision to walk the two fastest Royals. After the game went to extras, he opened Nate Jones' first appearance on back-to-back days with a solo shot.
*The Sox should've won it in regulation, but Leury García was the only one to earn his keep. In the seventh, he walked, Palka singled, and a passed ball put them both in scoring position. Alas, Jose Abreu might've had the worst at-bat at his life, swinging at three pitches out of the zone after getting ahead 3-0. Alonso popped out, and Jimenez couldn't figure out Jake Diekman's sliders for the third out.
*The Sox then loaded the bases in the following inning with an infield single, a walk, and a Sánchez bunt single that rolled all the way to third base. Then Engel check-swung the first pitch from Wily Peralta into a force at the plate for the first out. García followed by smashing his first pitch through the right side, but it was hit too hard and only one runner could score. Up came Palka, who hit a firm grounder right to the shorstop for a routine twin killing.
*The Sox went 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position, stranding 14.
*Rondón committed the Sox' third error in the 10th, but Jones got a 1-2-3 double play to nullify it.
*Let me know if I missed anything else. There was ... a lot.
Record: 7-10 | Box score | Highlights
