The Stacey King Game Is Ruined by Rain, 7-2 Rout

Hi y’all! I’m back, for your Friday night recap. The only subs today were the announcers, Stacey King and Adam Amin, in place of Steve Stone and Jason Benetti. Let’s get to it.

Things kicked off with a two-hour rain delay, because Kansas City is not a happy place. Before first pitch, we were treated to the Stacy King Hot Sauce Heat Scale™:

Both pitchers had a quick 1-2-3 start to the first inning. Leury García made a beautiful catch at short that Stacy King really enjoyed (and made 100 times better in my opinion):

Keuchel started off the second with a walk to Edward Olivares, and it came back to haunt him. Olivares moved steadily around the bases on a single by Carlos Santana, a ground out by Adalberto Mondesí, then scoring on a fielder’s choice from Michael A. Taylor. Unfortunately a gift triple to right-center by Andrew Benintendi brought in Santana to give the Royals a 2-0 lead. Hunter Dozier popped out to first (without colliding with José Abreu!) to end the second with only a little damage done.

Fellow South Side Sox writer Chrystal O’Keefe summed up Keuchel’s starts as of late:

I don’t disagree. Keuchel kept falling behind in his counts and struggled to catch up to hitters, unable to find the bottom part of the zone. Or almost any part of the zone.

Yoán Moncada stretched his hitting streak to 17, but the White Sox did not manage to score during the top of the third.

Keuchel loaded the bases with one out in the third, but managed to strike out Santana. A two-strike hit right up the middle by Mondesí cleared the bases, with a Luis Robert error on the play pushing the Royals lead to 5-0. Mondesí stole third and then scored on a single to left by Taylor, giving the Royals a 6-0 lead and tagging Keuchel with five earned runs. The two-out rally might never have ended, but Taylor was caught stealing for the final out.

Keuchel came back out for the fourth, for some reason, and gave up a double to Benintendi, threw a ball to Dozier, and was replaced by Matt Foster. Luckily, no more damage transpired and (in it could always be worse news) the White Sox held the deficit at 6-0.

Keuchel’s stats since July 1 are not good:

Do we start to panic about this at some point, or …

Foster came back out in the bottom of the fifth. He struck out Olivares and Mondesi but gave up singles to Salvador Perez and Santana. Taylor came up to capitalize on a two-on, two-out situation by driving in Perez and giving the Royals the 7-0 lead. After a single from Benintendi, Michael Wright Jr. was brought in relief of Foster and struck out Dozier.

The White Sox managed to show some life in the sixth when Abreu singled to left and Eloy Jiménez walked. A fielder’s choice to first by Grandal moved the runners up a base and a ground out by García scored Abreu, bringing things to 7-1. A single by Gavin “Silk” Sheets to left scored Grandal and gave Sheets the RBI. Andrew Vaughn ended the rally (generous to call it a rally) with a ground out to third. The White Sox were within distance of something, 7-2.

That distance was never narrowed, however.

Romy González was brought in to pinch-hit late, but struck out (welcome to the show, rook). The White Sox did not manage to do anything against Tapia and the inning came to a swift end.

Well, at least the White Sox weren’t shut out?

Stacey King highlights, in no particular order, because he was the best part of this game:

Yes, I did include my own tweet, and I’m not sorry. After all, I watched that entire game, so you didn’t have to.

Good night, y’all. Hopefully, tomorrow is better.