CHICAGO (AP) — Daniel Lynch gave the Kansas City Royals exactly what they needed.
Not so much for Dallas Keuchel and the Chicago White Sox.
Lynch pitched six crisp innings, and the Royals handed the White Sox their eighth straight loss with a 6-0 victory Tuesday night.
“I felt like I commanded the ball really well,” Lynch said. “I did what I wanted to.”
Bobby Witt Jr. had two hits and Carlos Santana drove in two runs, helping Kansas City stop a four-game slide. The Royals were outscored 22-12 in a sweep at Seattle over the weekend.
Lynch (2-1) allowed two hits, struck out seven and walked two. The left-hander, who made his big league debut almost a year ago, also pitched shutout ball in his previous start, working into the sixth in a 2-0 win over Minnesota last week.
“It’s just amazing from a year ago where he is right now,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “How his demeanor, his rhythm, his repeatability, that’s really a thing that you see the most is he is repeating mechanics that are letting him repeat inside the zone and outside. He had everything today.”
Chicago’s best scoring chance against Lynch occurred in the fourth, when Jake Burger flied out to the warning track in left with Yasmani Grandal aboard after a leadoff double.
The White Sox issued 11 walks and committed two more errors, running their major league-leading total to 20. First baseman José Abreu dropped a throw in the fourth, leading to two unearned runs. Shortstop Tim Anderson flubbed a grounder in the eighth for his seventh error in his last six games.
It’s the longest losing streak for Chicago since it also dropped eight in a row in June 2018.
“If you have talent like this and you have to get after guys to get started or they’re walking around smiling or not working, then you’ve got the wrong people,” manager Tony La Russa said. “We’ve got the right people. So we’ll be all right. The sooner the better though, because we’re not having any fun.”
Keuchel (1-2) worked four innings in his second straight loss, allowing two runs and two hits. The lefty struck out two and walked five for the reigning AL Central champions.
“We’re too good of a team to really feel bad about ourselves or get down, so we’ll have to pick it back up and eventually we will,” Keuchel said. “Just a matter of will it be tomorrow or hopefully the next day.”
Kansas City put the game away with four runs in the sixth, sending 10 batters to the plate. Witt doubled and scored on Michael A. Taylor’s sacrifice fly. Andrew Benintendi drove in a run with an unusual fielder’s choice, and Santana made it 6-0 with a two-run single against Kyle Crick.
Benintendi’s bases-loaded fly ball to left dropped in front of Andrew Vaughn, who threw to third for the forceout as Edward Olivares scored.
Taylor Clarke got three outs for Kansas City before Brady Singer finished the five-hitter.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: SS Adalberto Mondesi exited in the sixth because of left knee discomfort. “He’s sore, but they didn’t think anything structural,” Matheny said. “Probably get another look at it in the morning.”
White Sox: OF Eloy Jiménez had surgery to repair a torn hamstring tendon behind his right knee. He is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks. Jiménez got hurt during Saturday’s 9-2 loss at Minnesota when he stretched for first base while running out a grounder to third. … CF Luis Robert (groin strain) and 3B Yoán Moncada (right oblique strain) ran the bases before the game. Robert could return as soon as Wednesday, and Moncada could start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte as soon as this weekend.
UP NEXT
Right-handers Zack Greinke (0-1, 2.25 ERA) and Dylan Cease (2-1, 3.38) pitch on Wednesday afternoon. Greinke tossed five innings of one-run ball in Kansas City’s 1-0 loss to Minnesota on Thursday. The 38-year-old Greinke is 4-0 with a 3.28 ERA in his last six starts against Chicago. Cease permitted four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 6-3 loss at Cleveland last week.
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