In a highly anticipated matchup, pitchers Chris Flexen and Michael Wacha lived up to the billing. Both righties matched scoreless innings and made quick work of anemic offenses. It only took one hour to reach the sixth inning as neither the Chicago White Sox nor Kansas City Royals hitters worked deep counts. It was the type of performance everyone was expecting.
"That’s kind of like my game plan as a pitcher, mix and attack and see how far deep in the game we can get," Flexen said of his efficiency. "I just try to create early contact and induce outs."
A weird bounce swung the outcome in Kansas City's favor in the seventh inning. After Salvador Perez hit a drive off the left field wall but had to settle for a single, Flexen made a mistake throwing a middle-middle fastball to MJ Melendez. Another deep fly ball forced Dominic Fletcher to turn and burn in center field. As Fletcher approached the wall, he made a valiant leaping effort, but Melendez's fly ball had just enough to sail over the fence for a two-run homer.
Or, it seemed the fly had enough juice.
On replay, Melendez's deep drive hit the wall and bounced off Fletcher's glove for a home run—a bit of bad luck that fits the White Sox theme to start 2024. If Fletcher hadn't been there, Melendez's hit probably would have resulted in a double, and Kansas City would have runners in scoring position with no outs. Pedro Grifol said there was agreement in the Sox dugout that the ball hit off Fletcher's glove and over the wall, but that he should have asked for a crew chief review of the homer--which would not have required using a challenge.
"Nobody saw it from our angle," Grifol told reporters postgame. "From our angle it was easy: ball hit the glove and went over the fence. But we don't have the replay in our dugout. But you go out there and just ask them to review it. It's a crew chief review, so I eat that, I wear that."
MJ mashes this game wide open! 💥 pic.twitter.com/qk1wIOpx1z
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 7, 2024
"Maybe had a chance to get out of that inning without a run if that ends up being a ground rule double, but it is what it is," Fletcher said postgame. "Unfortunate break for us that we didn’t see that."
But the Royals offense didn't stop. Flexen's last batter faced was Nick Loftin, who walked. Jordan Leasure stepped in and had a rocky time. Singles allowed to Garrett Hampson and Kyle Isbel loaded the bases for Maikel Garcia, who would hit a shallow fly ball into no man's land in right field. Lenyn Sosa stretched out for it, but the ball deflected off the end of his glove and was ruled an RBI single for Garcia.
Down 3-0, the White Sox finally got into the Royals' bullpen to start the eighth inning. Wacha took advantage of a higher-than-normal strike zone, limiting White Sox hitters to just two hits and one walk over seven innings. Paul DeJong greeted Royals reliever Nick Anderson with a leadoff double. After Sosa struck out, Fletcher worked Anderson for a walk after fouling off tough inside pitches.
With the game-tying run batting, manager Pedro Grifol called on Robbie Grossman to pinch hit for Martin Maldonado. It wasn't a bad decision by Grifol but the result was, as Grossman grounded into the 4-6-3 double play to end the scoring threat.
Saturday night's game ended when Andrew Benintendi made some of his best contact of the early season but lined out to left field. Then Yoán Moncada struck out looking, and in a shocker, Andrew Vaughn grounded out to short.
Eight games into 2024, and the White Sox have scored 13 runs.
"We're going through a really bad stretch right now offensively, but that's not who these guys are," Grifol said. "They're proven major league hitters. That's why they're here. They have a track record. They're going to get it going. It's just taking longer than what we want."
Game Notes
- White Sox are now 0-6 vs. AL Central
- Flexen’s final line: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
- Martin Maldonado had his first hit of the season with a double.
- Lenyn Sosa’s 2024 debut featured a single (wiped away by a double play) and a pick off at second base.
