KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chicago White Sox loaded the bases with one out in the sixth inning Friday against the Kansas City Royals.
The Sox trailed by a run but were in position to at least pull even at Kauffman Stadium.
Lenyn Sosa hit a liner to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who made the catch and then tossed to second to double off Colson Montgomery to end the threat.
“Just got to go back on a line drive,” manager Will Venable said. “Head-high line drive, not really anywhere to go. Just got to work back to the base. It’s something we drill and talk about, when you’re out there sometimes it speeds up on you and just one of those you’ve got to get back to second base.”
That would be one of the team’s best chances in a 3-1 loss to the Royals in front of 20,829.
“Just couldn’t really get anything going,” Venable said. “We got beat in the zone a lot, which we’ve seen a little bit here recently after doing a nice job on the fastball. Just got to keep going.”
The Sox (44-78) have lost nine of 11 and fell 34 games under .500, their low-water mark of the season.
Aaron Civale pitched well in the loss, allowing three runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and one walk in six innings.
“Thought we did a good job of challenging them and attacking,” Civale said. “(Edgar Quero) was great behind the plate. The defense was great out on the field behind me.”
It was a solid bounce-back for Civale, who lasted just 3 1/3 innings in his last start, allowing nine runs against the Cleveland Guardians on Aug. 8 at Rate Field.
“He was great tonight, quality start, covered six innings, only three runs,” Venable said. “I don’t think he really got into a ton of trouble. The trouble he did get into, he did a good job working around. So outstanding outing from Aaron.”
White Sox starter Aaron Civale delivers against the Royals in the first inning at Kauffman Stadium on Aug. 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
Civale surrendered three consecutive one-out singles in the first, the third an RBI hit for Maikel Garcia to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. But he was able to limit the damage to just the one run.
“Just continued to be aggressive,” Civale said of escaping the trouble. “It’s easy to talk between innings, but try and be out there and recognize in real time what they’re doing, it’s a combo of your strengths and trying to see what’s presented in front of you by the offense and going from there.”
The Sox tied it in the fourth with a solo home run from Sosa to left field, his team-leading 15th of the season.
White Sox designated hitter Lenyn Sosa celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning against the Royals on Aug. 15, 2025 in Kansas City, Mo. (Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
“He (Royals starter Noah Cameron) was throwing me inside,” Sosa said through an interpreter. “I was able to hit a ball hard and hit a homer.”
The Royals quickly answered with a Salvador Perez home run to right leading off the bottom of the fourth.
“Credit to (Perez) for putting a good swing on a pitch that was out of the zone,” Civale said. “He did a good job handling it. He’s been playing this game a long time and he’s a strong guy.”
The Sox still trailed by one when the opportunity quickly vanished in the sixth because of the double play.
The Royals came through with a big hit in the bottom of the inning. Perez doubled with two outs and then scored on an Adam Frazier double for a 3-1 lead.
“The only thing I wish I could do over again was the cutter to Frazier,” Civale said. “I pulled the pitch before and didn’t make the adjustment to correct that and pulled another one. You can get away with it once, but usually you don’t get away with it twice.”
The Sox had one base runner over the final three innings on the way to losing their 12th straight at Kauffman Stadium.
“Just got to keep at it,” Venable said of the offense. “We’ve talked about coming out of the (All-Star) break, fastball performance and committing to the changes we need to make to make sure that we perform against the fastball.
“For whatever reason, whether it’s us or the pitching we’ve faced, we’ve gotten away from it a little bit. Got beat in the zone. Got to get back to the basics, get ready to hit and put some good swings on some good pitches.”
Originally Published: August 15, 2025 at 8:12 PM CDT