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Royals 3, White Sox 2: Good Miguel Gonzalez Start Wasted

It’s no secret that the White Sox have struggled playing at Kauffman Stadium this season. They’ve won just two games at the Royals home park this season, with one of those coming Friday thanks to Chris Sale‘s complete game gem. With Miguel Gonzalez on the mound against Jason Vargas, the White Sox continued their Kansas City woes.

1. Gonzalez pitched a really good game. Not only did he only give up three runs during his seven innings pitched, but he also only gave up runs in two of those innings. In the first, the speed of Jarrod Dyson was a huge factor in allowing him to score on a sacrifice fly after stealing third. Gonzalez gave up his other two runs during the fifth, which was kicked off by an Alcides Escobar triple, followed by a wave of Royals singles. Gonzalez’s ERA has now dipped to 3.83, which is certainly a good sign for the White Sox going into 2017 with him as their fourth starter.

2. Melky Cabrera had another multi-hit night, his 52nd game with two hits or more this season. His RBI single in the top of the first gave the Sox an early lead over the Royals before Gonzalez quickly gave that one back in the bottom of the inning. Cabrera’s 2-for-4 line with a single run knocked in easily paced the White Sox offense.

3. Sox hitting truly struggled to produce against a committee of Royals pitchers. Despite two-thirds of the starting lineup notching at least one hit in the game, the offense was completely out of sync and left eight players on base, with Cabrera finishing as the only hitter with more than a single hit.

4. The White Sox attempted to rally in the 8th eight while they were down 3-1 as Cabrera and Jose Abreu led the inning off with back-to-back hits. An Avisail Garcia double that luckily hit the bag at third allowed Abreu to score, making it a one run ball game.

5. Once the White Sox made it close, the Royals brought in the big guns from their bullpen. Joakim Soria and Wade Davis proved to be too much for the struggling Sox batters to overcome in the final innings. They combined for 1.2 innings pitched and just a single hit surrendered.

 

Team Record: 72-76

Next game is Sunday at Kansas City at 1:15pm CT on WGN

 

Lead Image Credit: John Rieger // USA Today Sports Images

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