KANSAS CITY — The Chicago White Sox continue to show signs of progress with a promising young pitching core, but the outcomes remain heartbreakingly familiar. A single pivotal moment once again tipped the scales in a narrow loss to the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.
Jonathan Cannon delivered his third consecutive quality start, allowing just two runs across six innings. But one mistake—a fifth-inning slider that Bobby Witt Jr. crushed for a two-run home run—proved decisive in a 2-1 defeat. The loss marked Chicago’s 10th straight at Kauffman Stadium, setting a new franchise record.
The series has followed a pattern: competitive outings undone by small breakdowns. After a solid performance on the mound Monday was wasted due to defensive miscues on Tuesday, Wednesday’s game was lost on a single pitch.
“We’re on the edge. We’re close,” said manager Will Venable. “The team’s fighting hard. It just comes down to finding that one key hit, that crucial pitch, or the extra defensive play. I’m proud of the effort, but we’ve got to start finishing these games.”
Cannon nearly repeated his earlier success against Witt, who popped out in a similar situation in the third. But in the fifth, with the count at 1-0, Witt adjusted and launched a 392-foot homer, according to Statcast.
“We got him up-and-in the last two at-bats, but he made an adjustment,” Cannon said. “Good pitch, good location—just a really good hitter making a strong play.”
Outside of that homer, Cannon was sharp, following strong starts earlier in the series from Shane Smith and Sean Burke. Still, despite yielding only eight earned runs over three games, the White Sox find themselves winless in the series.
Cannon credited the team’s recent strategy. “Watching what Smith and Burke did, I tried to mirror that approach—lean on the fastball, mix locations. Matt [Thaiss] and I had a good rhythm. We kept hitters guessing.”
While pitching has kept them in games, the White Sox offense has sputtered—scoring only four runs in the first three games against a Royals rotation near the top of MLB in ERA. They showed late life Wednesday, loading the bases with no outs in the ninth and pushing across a run against closer Carlos Estévez, but the rally fell short.
“We’ve fought hard against some tough closers,” Venable said. “That late push shows our resilience, but we’ve got to start producing runs earlier.”
Even in defeat, Chicago flashed defensive prowess. Cannon and Miguel Vargas combined on a tricky play to get Drew Waters at first on a swinging bunt that likely saved a run. Vargas also managed a heads-up 3-1 putout while being knocked over by a broken bat, which tore a hole in his sock.
“Those were two massive plays by Vargas,” Cannon said. “To get hit by the barrel and still finish the play—that was gutsy.”
Despite competitive outings, the White Sox now sit at 2-15 in games decided by two runs or fewer. Their starting rotation has kept them in striking distance. Now it’s up to the rest of the team to start capitalizing.
