White Sox defeat Royals 4-3; Ricky’s Boys again fail to quit

Uhh ... Ricky’s boys don’t quit. You might hear that saying a few times this year.

Down 3-1 in the top of the eighth in a cold and windy Kansas City, the Chicago White Sox refused to give in — again.

Yoan Moncada launched a home run into the right field seats to cut the lead to one. It was 113 mph off the bat and went 443 feet. Yeah, he didn’t miss it.

Avisail Garcia then grounded a ball up the middle that shortstop Alcides Escobar could not handle. Matt Davidson followed Jose Abreu’s forceout with a one-out walk, and Tyler Saladino pitch-ran for Hair Flow, representing the lead run.

After a slow roller off the bat of Nicky Delmonico got the two runners in scoring position, Welington Castillo drove a 3-0 pitch over Jon Jay’s head in right field.

It was Castillo’s first hit of the season, and it could not have come at a better time.

The three earned runs came off former San Diego Padres closer Brandon Maurer, who now holds a 16.20 ERA, thanks to the White Sox comeback.

Seriously, they don’t quit.

The bullpen did its job after the team took the lead.

Nate Jones came in and looked good, giving up only one hit and striking out two. His velocity was also encouraging, with his fastball staying consistent in the mid-to-upper 90s.

Joakim Soria came in and made things interesting, but prevailed in the end. He gave up a hit and a walk, but got Whit Merrifield to fly out for the last out, giving the Sox a 4-3 victory.

White Sox starter Lucas Giolito didn’t have his stuff at all early on, and well, throughout the game.

The big man struggled mightily in the first inning, trying to find the pinpoint control he had during this year’s spring training. The first four batters reached (sound familiar?), but Giolito limited the damage to only two runs. A nice stop from Tim Anderson on a sharply-hit ground ball turned into a double play to get out of the inning. It could have been a lot worse.

As the game went on, Giolito still couldn’t get his breaking ball command, as evidenced by a mere one strikeout. One-strikeout Giolito games won’t happen often.

But give Giolito credit ... he battled. The righty finished with a quality start of six innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits and four walks.

The White Sox kept their position atop the AL Central with the victory. Are we scoreboard watching? Um, no. But it’s fun to see for the time being.

The team will go for the sweep tomorrow with Reynaldo Lopez on the hill and a wintry mix in the forecast.