Giolito sets club record with 8 straight strikeouts in Sox's loss to Royals

For the most part, Lucas Giolito was razor sharp in Thursday afternoon's start against the Royals.

Over one stretch, the White Sox right-hander set a club record by striking out eight straight Kansas City hitters.

"I was in a groove, just pretty much like fully confident in every pitch I was throwing," Giolito said. "Like I knew the result before I threw the pitch, that kind of feeling. When you have that feeling as a pitcher you want to ride it out as long as you can.

"Unfortunately, I didn't carry it into the sixth."

With the game tied at 2 in the sixth inning, Giolito left a fastball over the middle and Hunter Dozier pounded it for a 3-run homer. That was the big blow in the Sox's 6-3 loss to K.C. at Guaranteed Rate Field.

"That was the location that I wanted, probably just the wrong pitch," Giolito said.

Giolito allowed 5 runs on 5 hits over 6 innings while finishing with 12 strikeouts.

According to STATS, the eight strikeouts in a row tie Giolito for the seventh longest single-game stretch in major-league history.

"I just got into a nice groove, good rhythm, executing pitches especially with two strikes, putting it where I wanted to," Giolito said. "I didn't realize it was eight in a row. I thought it was six in a row, I forgot the first two. So yeah, it was pretty cool."

Eloy Jimenez drove in the White Sox's first run with a single in the third inning. Jose Abreu and Yolmer Sanchez added sacrifice flys.

Jorge Soler gave the Royals the early lead with a solo homer in the first inning, a 446-foot shot to left-center field. Initially with the Cubs, Soler ranks second in the American League with 44 home runs this season.

Lost cause:

Thursday's loss to the Royals dropped the Sox's record to 64-82, guaranteeing a seventh straight losing season.

Will it be the end of a long, miserable run?

"I'm expecting that this is it," manager Rick Renteria said. "We are trying to win. I think we talk about it, we are going through it. I know there's still refining to do, but I'll be honest with you. We are finishing this season, we are talking about coming into next season ready to battle, period, exclamation point. That's what we are looking to do."