Royals have Sox’ number
The White Sox didn’t hit a home run Sunday, and you know what that means.
They lost, again, to the Royals.
The Sox wasted prime pitching from starter Hector Santiago and relievers Brian Omogrosso, Nate Jones, Matt Thornton, Jesse Crain, Donnie Veal and Leyson Septimo while falling to Kansas City 2-1 in 10 innings at U.S. Cellular Field.
The Royals scored both their runs off Brett Myers with two outs in the 10th and the Sox answered back with a run in the bottom of the inning on Gordon Beckham’s RBI double, but it wasn’t enough.
“Obviously you don’t want to lose that series, and I thought we played OK today,” Beckham said after the White Sox lost two of three to Kansas City. “(Royals starter Jeremy) Guthrie was really good, (and) so were our pitchers. It was one of those days where it got away from us.”
Guthrie silenced the Sox bats for the third time in the past month, pitching 8 scoreless innings. The right-hander hasn’t allowed an earned run in 23 innings over the stretch.
The White Sox and Royals were locked in a scoreless tie in the ninth inning, when it looked like the game would end in regulation.
The Sox had the bases loaded with one out, but K.C. reliever Kelvin Herrera got Alex Rios to ground into a double play.
And after Beckham’s run-scoring double in the 10th, the White Sox had runners on second and third with one out before closer Greg Holland struck out Alejandro De Aza and Ray Olmedo to end the game.
The Sox rank third in baseball with 181 home runs, but they continue to struggle when they fail to hit the ball out.
“Situationally, we didn’t do what we wanted to do offensively, running the bases, all that kind of stuff,” manager Robin Ventura said. “It was a bad day all the way around.”
For Myers, it was another disaster against the Royals.
The right-hander allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk while getting only one out. Pitching against Kansas City this season with the White Sox and Astros, Myers has allowed hits to 18 of the 26 batters he’s faced.
“It seems like every time I face them, balls find the holes and stuff like that,” Myers said. “I don’t necessarily think the quality of the pitches are bad. They are just putting the bat on it and finding holes and being able to score runs.”
Santiago was sharp again in his second major-league start, striking out eight in 4-plus innings. If he becomes more efficient, the rookie left-hander could have a home in the Sox’ rotation.
“I felt good,” Santiago said after throwing 93 pitches. “I just got too many foul balls and I’m walking too many guys. Everything was working but I just couldn’t get the early count outs.”
Detroit lost again Sunday, so the White Sox head into this week’s four-game series with a 2-game lead over the second-place Tigers.
“We’ve got to come back tomorrow and do it,” Beckham said. “We know it’s important.”
Dunn out again:
Adam Dunn missed his third straight game Sunday with a strained right oblique.
The White Sox’ designated hitter/first baseman is hoping to be back Monday night against the Tigers.
“It’s been nonstop treatment,” Dunn said. “I came in on the off day (Thursday), did a treatment and every single second I’ve been here seems like I’ve been in treatment. See how it is tomorrow, probably, that’s kind of my goal.”
Dunn missed two games at Detroit last week and returned to the Sox’ lineup against the Twins last Monday. He re-aggravated the oblique Wednesday.
“I had a jacked-up swing and felt it again, bad,” Dunn said. “Looking back now, I probably would have missed a couple days against Minnesota and probably would have been fine now. But me being stupid probably cost me a couple extra days, to be honest with you.”
Floyd throws:
Gavin Floyd (sore elbow) had another bullpen session Sunday and was able to throw curveballs.
But the White Sox’ starting pitcher still might not be ready to come off the disabled list after giving a mixed report.
“A couple of times we stopped and it felt a little ... abnormal,” Floyd said. “But everything felt good.”
sgregor@dailyherald.com