Jordan Lyles entered this game with as a pitcher with an 0-5 record and a 6.69 ERA, and it would've been ideal if the White Sox made him look like one.
But the did make Lyles an 0-6 pitcher, even though he threw a complete game against them, and that's good enough for now.
The White Sox only posted six hits and zero walks against Lyles over nine innings, but two of those hits left the yard. Luis Robert Jr. hit a game-tying missile in the fourth inning, and Andrew Vaughn's two-run shot two innings later put them ahead for good, because Lucas Giolito pitched six strong innings, and the bullpen went nine-up-nine-down behind him.
Again, you probably would want the other team to have to use a reliever in the second game of four, but after Monday's disaster, the competence elsewhere halted the bad vibes for a night.
Giolito did not throw a complete game, but he went six innings for the sixth consecutive start, and this one featured his best stuff yet. He averaged 94.3 mph with his fastball, which allowed him to deploy a straightforward pitch mix -- sliders against righties, changeups against lefties. He racked up 18 whiffs over 93 pitches, and it looked pretty simple.
He rolled a slider to Vinnie Pasquantino in the first inning for a solo shot, but until Bobby Witt Jr. led off the sixth with a triple, he settled in nicely.
Witt came home on a bloop Pasquantino single to make it a 3-2 game and trigger flashbacks of Monday's sixth inning, but while Giolito loaded the bases with his only free passes of the game just like Dylan Cease before him, he was able to get out of it. He got Hunter Dozier to pop out, and Elvis Andrus nicely navigated a screen attempt by the runner to handle Freddy Fermin's one-hopper for the third out.
In between the White Sox offense did just a little bit more, at least after the third inning.
Lyles started his night by retiring the first 11, but Robert prevented a fourth perfect inning by crushing a first-pitch hanging slider onto the concourse behind the left-field seats that finally answered Pasquantino's first-inning shot.
Two innings later, the White Sox finally had a first batter reach base via a Lenyn Sosa double. He moved to third on Andrew Benintendi's checked-swing sac bunt, which brought Vaughn to the plate.
Lyles' plan was to bury sinkers down and in, and when Vaughn chopped the first one foul to the left side, you could understand the strategy. Problem was, his second sinker stayed up and on the inside corner, and Vaughn was ready for it. The only question was whether he could keep it fair, and it had room to spare inside the foul pole.
The Sox led 3-1, and while the Royals made it a one-run game in the bottom of the inning, the bottom of the order restored the two-run cushion. Hanser Alberto doubled with one out, and two batters later, Seby Zavala singled him home.
The Royals never brought the tying run to the plate, as the White Sox bullpen made quick work of it. Joe Kelly, Reynaldo López and Kendall Graveman only combined for two strikeouts, but nobody complains when they totaled 30 pitches. Besides, they combined for four pop-outs, and those are almost the same thing.
Bullet points:
*Graveman is the third White Sox pitcher with save this season, joining López and Keynan Middleton.
*The start of the game was delayed by two hours, and the game only lasted two minutes longer than that. It joins April 23 against the Rays as the shortest White Sox game of the year, although this one required both teams to bat in the ninth inning.
*Lyles is a throwback to a simpler time:
