Another nasty loss to the Chicago White Sox follows the same ridiculous scenario – Reading Eagle

You’ve seen it before and you’ll probably see it again.

If the Chicago White Sox have proven one thing in 2022, it’s that they’re consistent.

Soxov A 6-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals Monday’s rare one-game series had all the staples of a prototypical Sox game.

Here’s how the seven stages of the Sox’s grief played out, from a major injury to a key player to manager Tony La Russa’s defensive stance after the game.

1. Debilitating trauma

Michael Kopech didn’t even make it through pregame warmups before the coach was called to the mound. Kopech was allowed to continue but was removed after four at-bats with what the Sox called left knee soreness.

He walked off the mound screaming into his glove, and every Sox fan watching at home on TV was probably saying the same thing. If Kopech can’t go, the Sox rotation is in dire straits down the stretch.

2. An unfortunate rebound

Luis Robert’s two-out opposite-field double in the sixth looked like it would bring home AJ Pollock with the tying run. Instead, the ball bounced over the right-field wall, forcing Robert to settle for a double and sending Pollock to third.

Eloy Jimenez followed the play with a grounder to shortstop to end the inning. The Sox aren’t actually the unluckiest team in baseball, but it feels like it.

3. The late rally failed

The Sox trailed 4-0 after one inning to tie the game 4-4 in the seventh. You could suggest La Russa’s “heart and guts” speech for the postgame show.

But that was all. They have given up 11 bases and continue to be one of baseball’s top hitting teams with runners on third.

“I don’t want to get into it,” La Russa told reporters Sunday in Cleveland. “We know exactly how we can fix it better, and they’re working on it.” But it still wasn’t fixed.

The Royals, meanwhile, have bounced back, losing six of seven with a .167 batting average in that span. They had just six hits, including one that Sox second baseman Josh Harrison scored but was not charged with an error.

But 10 Royals reached base on a walk (six) or hit-by-pitch (four). The Sox handed them the game.

4. No home run

Another game in which the Sox failed a homer. Who knew? They have hit one in their last seven games, Yoan Moncada in Thursday’s 21-5 rout of the Houston Astros.

There is no good excuse. They started the day with the third-worst in the majors with 102 home runs. They finished with 190 last season.

5. Collapse at the end of the inning

Joe Kelly, pitching for the second time in 11 days after battling “vertigo,” struck out the first two batters in the eighth, suggesting he was out of control. A single loaded the bases with no outs before a forceout at the plate.

Kelly then walked rookie Drew Waters for the go-ahead run before being picked off for Jose Ruiz, who gave up a sacrifice fly. Closer Liam Hendrix was the only survivor left.

The Sox bullpen entered the day with a 5.38 ERA since the All-Star break, the second-worst in the majors. This was supposed to be one of their strong points.

6. A crushing double play

Jose Abreu’s leadoff single in the ninth tied the game. Is another Sox comeback brewing?

No. Andrew Vaughn started a double play on a first-inning slider, the third double play the Sox turned into. They lost for the fourth time in five games and are three games behind the division-leading Cleveland Guardians as they head to Baltimore for a three-game series with the Orioles.

Last week’s five-game winning streak seems like a lifetime ago.

7. Manager’s overreaction after the game

A reporter asked La Russa about the need to empty the bullpen due to Kopech’s early departure.

“It’s a bad loss,” La Russa told a reporter. “We lost 4-0. We’re back to tie the knot. This is a club. We lost 6-4. Are you saying we are lousy? Tell us we’re bad. We came back 4-0. The bad part, what did we have? Ten or 11 strikes?”

The reporter didn’t say the Sox were “lousy” or even suggest it. But La Russa tried to turn it into an “us vs. them” situation.

Friday in Cleveland he issued another intentional walk on a 1-2 count and watched it work.

“We’ve been through it before, the funniest thing this season was going 1-2,” he said. “I mean, it’s the funniest thing. That’s what I’m saying.”

It’s actually much funnier to watch the same things happen over and over again.

And yet the Sox remain in contention for a division title or a spot in the alternate.

This might be the funniest one of all.

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