White Sox and Royals split doubleheader
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brady Singer outdueled Davis Martin as the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 in the second game of a doubleheader on Tuesday.
The White Sox won the first game 3-0.
Singer (1-0) had his best outing since last September 5, when he threw seven shutout innings against the White Sox. He struck out a career high nine batters and didn't walk anyone. He allowed just four hits in seven innings.
Josh Staumont earned his third save in five chances.
Davis Martin (0-1) made his debut and was equally impressive. He allowed just one run on five hits in five innings, walking one and striking out seven.
The Royals finally capitalized in the second inning after going 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position in the first game. Emmanuel Rivera led off the inning with a double and scored on a Michael A. Taylor double into left field.
The Royals got another run in the sixth on M.J. Melendez's first career home run, a 425-foot blast to right center.
The White Sox got a run in the eighth, but left fielder Andrew Benintendi threw out Josh Harrison as he tried to score from second on a single.
The White Sox won the first game behind clutch hitting by Jose Abreu and working around Kansas City offensive threats. Abreu's two-out, two-run double keyed a three-run fifth inning.
"We only scored three ourselves," manager Tony La Russa said. "The way I was taught to look at it is 'What did they have to hit?' If you don't get pitches to hit, you don't hit them. There were very few mistakes made in RBI situations."
TRANSACTION
White Sox: Selected the contract of RHP Davis Martin from Triple-A Charlotte. He made his Major League debut. They also added RHP Kyle Crick as the 27th man on the roster for the doubleheader. The White Sox placed RHP Michael Kopech on the paternity list. To make room for Martin on the 40-man roster, the White Sox moved LHP Garrett Crochet to the 60-day IL.
Royals: added RHP Brady Singer as the 27th man on the roster for the doubleheader. Between games of the doubleheader, the Royals placed C Salvador Perez on the 10-day Injured List with a left thumb sprain. C Sebastian Rivero was recalled from Double-A Northwest Arkansas.
UP NEXT
The White Sox and Royals will play the fourth game of a five-game series. The White Sox will start RHP Vince Velasquez (2-3, 5.53 ERA) against Zach Greinke (0-2, 3.52 ERA) of the Royals.