Robertson Blows Another Save, White Sox Lose In 14
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — White Sox closer David Robertson's sixth blown save in the 11th inning cost Chicago a victory a few innings later.
Lorenzo Cain's two-out single in the 14th inning scored Christian Colon from second base, and the Kansas City Royals beat the White Sox, 3-2, on Wednesday night.
Tim Anderson delivered a run-producing single with two outs in the 11th to give the White Sox a 2-1 lead, but Robertson failed to hold it.
"I've got to be better," Robertson said. "I've got to be able to pick these guys up and end the ballgame. It's what we need."
Robertson, who has blown saves in the first two games of the series and has a 15.43 ERA this season against the Royals, walked Hosmer to lead off the bottom of the 11th. Jarrod Dyson sacrificed him to second and Salvador Perez's double scored Hosmer.
"It's frustrating," Robertson said. "Guys did a great job of coming back there, in the 11th inning, and then I just, I came in and I screwed it all up. I really needed to get it done right there.
"I didn't make enough pitches. I left balls over the plate. When you walk the leadoff guy, he's going to score. I'm frustrated with myself. More frustrated that I let the team down. We really needed this one. We all needed it. I've got to be better."
Anderson, who had struck out four times, hit a soft liner over the head of first baseman Eric Hosmer to score Todd Frazier.
Colon opened the 14th with a single and Paulo Orlando sacrificed him to second. Cain laced a single to center to score Colon, ending the 4-hour, 34-minute game, the longest by the Royals this season.
Dillon Gee (4-5), the eighth Kansas City pitcher, struck out three in two perfect innings to pick up the victory. Matt Albers (2-5) was charged with the loss.
Dyson led off the 13th inning with a triple, but the Royals failed to get him home. Dan Jennings struck out the next three batters: Drew Butera, Alex Gordon and Alcides Escobar.
"After the triple, it seemed like Jennings reached back and got a little something extra," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "Hopefully we could have gotten a little momentum out of that."
But it took another inning. Fourteen pitchers combined to throw 424 pitches. There were 25 hits and 25 runners stranded.
White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana limited the Royals to four hits and one run over 7 1/3 innings.
He was pulled after Orlando's double in the eighth inning. Nate Jones replaced him and on his first pitch yielded an RBI double to Cheslor Cuthbert. It was Jones' seventh blown save of the season.
Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy, who has a 0.93 ERA in his past three starts, held the White Sox to one run and six hits over 6 1/3 innings. Kennedy is 0-3 with five no-decisions since a June 26 victory over Houston.
The Royals have scored a total of nine runs while Kennedy was on the mound in his past eight starts.
J.B. Shuck, who hit .083 over his previous eight games, homered on a 2-0 pitch in the third, the only run Kennedy allowed. That was the White Sox only extra-base hit along with 12 singles.
Orlando had two outfield assists. He threw out Omar Narvaez at the plate in the seventh when he attempted to score from second on Shuck's single to center. In the ninth, pinch-runner Carlos Sanchez tried to take second on Tyler Saladino's fly out to deep right-center, but Orlando threw him out.
QUICK EJECTION
White Sox pitching Don Cooper was ejected by plate umpire Pat Hoberg five pitches into the bottom of the first inning for arguing balls and strikes.
HAWK ABSENT
Ken Harrelson, who is in his 32nd season in the White Sox television booth, will miss all six games of this Kansas City and Miami road trip due to illness.
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: INF Brett Lawrie (strained left hamstring) has resumed swinging a bat. "He looks much better from where he was," Ventura said. "It's another step in the right direction for him, but, we don't know exactly how that's going to go."
Royals: LHP Mike Minor, who has not pitched in the majors since Sept. 23, 2014, with the Braves and had surgery in 2015 to repair a torn labrum, is rehabbing with Triple-A Omaha. He likely will not rejoin the Royals until September, when the hope is he could make some starts.
UP NEXT
White Sox: RHP Miguel Gonzalez is 0-1 with a 3.65 ERA in two starts this season against the Royals.
Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is 4-0 with a 3.67 ERA in nine home starts this season.
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