The Chris Getz White Sox refuse to not lose.
They staked a 6-0 lead with Dylan Cease on the mound, then watched the Royals bleed it dry over the final seven innings. Gregory Santos allowed Bobby Witt Jr. to tie it with a one-out double, and although he got Salvador Perez to line out to short with the winning run on third, Santos then balked in the winning run for no good reason.
The White Sox are now 0-5 since Chris Getz was named White Sox general manager, and it's only getting funnier.
While Santos was tagged with the blown save and loss, the outcome was far from his fault alone. Here's a quick power rankings of everybody who should feel bad about himself.
No. 1: Gregory Santos
Had Santos lost it any other way, he'd be further down this list. But Santos had just wrested control of the inning with Perez's lineout, followed by an intentional walk to MJ Melendez that brought Edward Olivares to the plate for a righty-righty matchup.
Then Santos tried to quick-pitch Olivares, and he failed to come to a set before starting his delivery, triggering an easy balk call.
It was certainly more clear than the balk that decided the game between the White Sox and Royals on Independence Day 2011.
No. 2: Tim Anderson
The White Sox had seemingly navigated the toughest part of the evening when Bryan Shaw and Aaron Bummer retired all four batters each faced. Shaw only goofed with a high throw on a pickoff at second, allowing the pair of inherited runners to advance. That took a double play out of order, and Classy Michael Massey's run-scoring groundout made it 6-5 after six.
Santos then did his part by getting Nick Loftin to hit a grounder to short on the first pitch of the ninth inning. Tim Anderson rounded it off fine, but instead of taking his time and setting his feet, he decided to go with an off-balance throw on the run. As the ball sailed over Andrew Vaughn's head, Loftin was still about three or four strides from first base.
No. 3: Dylan Cease
Cease entered the bottom of the third with a 6-0 lead and pitch count of 32. Then the Royals scored on him in each of the last four innings Cease started. He only walked two batters over his 5⅓ innings, but this version of Cease is getting punished for what finds too much of the zone, and tonight was no exception. Cease gave up eight hits, including three homers, and now he's gone eight outings without a quality start.
No. 4: Brady Singer
Singer also entered this start struggling, and he also allowed three homers. It's not just that he gave up the long ball, but who he gave them up to, and how: a no-doubter by Yoán Moncada(!), a no-doubter by Korey Lee(!!), and a right-of-center homer by Andrew Vaughn. Any of those events is unlikely by itself. Allow all three, and you're probably a pitcher who's searching for his stuff.
No. 5: Eloy Jiménez
The top three spots in the White Sox order went 2-for-15, which didn't help the White Sox in their quest to score any runs over the final six innings. Jiménez went 0-for-5 with four groundouts and a strikeout. His ground-ball rate has been about 60 percent the last two weeks, and it's eating away at his production.
Those performances -- at least four of them -- overshadowed what could've been a feel-good evening, especially for Lee. He ended up an 0-for-22 streak with a big three-run blast to left, tacked on a single, and had a strong night blocking behind the plate. Then again, he was thrown out trying to stretch the single into a double in the fourth, so maybe nothing gold can stay.
