• Things looked rosy early as Justin Morneau’s booming double was promptly followed up by a Todd Frazier miracle (aka, ground ball base hit) to open the scoring. Frazier, surprised at being on base, was promptly picked off. Adding salt to the wound, Avisail Garcia followed up with a triple to the right-center gap that would have scored a run but instead led to a torrent of Hawk Harrelson praise. Sigh.

The lead was short lived as noted sluggers Paulo Orlando and Alcides Escobar struck back with solo home runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Not to be left out, Jose Abreu continued his second half resurgence with an absolute bomb to straight away center. He now has 25 jacks, which is a nice, clean number.

• The wheels fell off in the fifth when three consecutive singles and a Kendrys Morales home run chased Rodon.

The Sox bats looked like they might keep it competitive in the next half when they loaded the bases with only one out for Abreu and Morneau. Unfortunately, a ground out and infield pop up led to nothing, and the game became a mop up.

• Rodon’s wildly successful seven game stretch has come to a screeching halt. After getting tagged for six runs against Cleveland last week, he coughed up another six in one fewer inning. With Monday’s start he’s now pitched more than 75 innings against the AL Central this season, and has a 4.50 ERA against divisional foes. Repeated looks against the same teams can be hard for young pitchers, especially ones still working out the kinks of their secondary pitches.

• But along with the bats, the Royals seemed to have picked up on something in Rodon’s delivery that led to them running wild. Big jumps led to a 3-for-3 day swiping bases, and none of the attempts were particularly close. Although in the end, very little of it mattered, as the Royals scored five of their six runs against Rodon via the home run. He gave up three. Suffice it to say, it was not a good day.

Team record: 72-78

Next game: 6:05 p.m. CT Tuesday against the Phillies in Philadelphia.

Photo credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

1. Quintana, per usual, was good. In fact, he didn’t face more than four batters in an inning until the eighth, his last inning of the afternoon. He made exactly three mistakes: two solo home runs to Cheslor Cuthbert (in the third and eighth), and another solo shot to Kendrys Morales in the fifth. In total he allowed just six hits, striking out 10 (!) and walking none (!!). Allowing home runs are never good, obviously, but this loss was not his fault.

2. The offense, as has been the case since the end of their hot stretch, was putrid. Just like there wasn’t much to report on Quintana’s end, there isn’t much to say other than: Danny Duffy was great. He allowed just three hits over six innings, walking three and striking out 10. The Sox actually got a chance to score off of Duffy way back in the first inning, as a lead off walk from Adam Eaton and a subsequent Jose Abreu single put runners on first and second with no one out. Naturally, Robin Ventura had Melky Cabrera sacrifice bunt, and Todd Frazier and Brett Lawrie followed that up with a strikeout and line out. Hey, guys: don’t bunt in the first inning — or with your No. 3 hitter. They also put a runner in scoring position in the third with two outs, but Lawrie struck out. They’d get a chance later on, but it’d prove to be too little, and too late.

3. The white flag crew came in the form of Matt Purke and Tyler Danish, and Danish allowed a run on three hits and one walk. It didn’t matter, but that tack-on run against a division rival always irritate.

4. Not only do the tack-on runs irritate, but a last-minute run that doesn’t change the outcome bothers me just as much. It would have been nice to see a run back in the first, thank you very much. The typical Royals relief crew came in — Joakim Soria, Kelvin Herrera, and Wade Davis — and the Sox were able to come away with just a run. Both Soria and Herrera worked a clean seventh and eighth, and then Davis allowed a run on a couple of hits from Frazier and Avisail Garcia. Once again, save that for before garbage time.

5. The White Sox are now back to .500, and that stinks. They have really faltered for this past month and change, and they now find themselves four games back of first place. The real question is: how much longer can they tread water before they make another deal, one of substance, that can stop the bleeding? The Sox will take on the Royals for the final game of the three-game set; Carlos Rodon will face Yordano Ventura at 1:10 p.m. CT.

Team record: 31-31

Lead Photo Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports