Thank you! Royals accept gift from White Sox

A walk, an error, and a bunt single ignite an improbable—yet fully understandable—ninth inning Royals rally.

The Royals began the bottom of the ninth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox with a 3-2 deficit. Their odds of winning the game stood, according to Baseball Savant, at 19 percent. I do not believe that takes into account the specific opponent. Perhaps it should. That 19 percent felt much too low.

As Chicago kicked around the baseball in the last inning and a third of this game, the Royals, ever the gracious hosts, gladly accepted the gifts the Sox offered. Take this walk…Take this error…Take this ballgame.

The Royals scored one in the eighth and two in the ninth. They snatched a 4-3 victory over those hapless White Sox in the most unlikely way. Thank you very much.

Today’s edition is a little different as it’s all about the ninth inning and how I experienced it while listening to the radio broadcast with Denny Matthews and Jake Eisenberg on the mic. Denny has been calling Royals games on the radio for all 56 years the franchise has been in existence. He has provided the soundtrack for every summer I can remember. He is, simply, a Kansas City baseball institution.

Denny Matthews was made to call the ninth inning of this baseball game.

The White Sox, leading 3-2 at the start of the ninth inning, have recorded one save all year. Yes. One save. That belongs to Brandon Eisert, who earned the save by pitching the seventh inning in a game that was shortened by rain, a 3-0 Chicago victory over the Minnesota Twins back on April 24. Roster Resource lists Steven Wilson and Jordan Leasure as co-closers, which begs the question: Can a team truly have a closer (or closers) if there is no one who ever earns a save?

Jake: “They (the White Sox) have not had many leads to hold onto. In fact, they only have the one save…They only have four save opportunities this year.”
Denny: “That says a lot.”

Wilson picked up two outs in the seventh and two more in the eighth. Leasure recorded the final out of that inning after surrendering a double to Salvador Perez that cut the White Sox lead to a single run.

So it was with the score 3-2 the bottom of the ninth opened with Cam Booser on the mound to pick up the save.

With the lefty Booser in, Matt Quatraro and the Royals countered with Mark Canha to pinch hit for Cavan Biggio. Booser fired the first pitch in the zone. Four pitches later, the Royals had a runner on first.

Denny: “Alright. In unison.”
Denny and Jake: “Leadoff walk. Late innings. Close game. Recipe for disaster.”

Ask any Royals fan to recite a Denny truism and odds are strong this is the one they will mention. And damnit if it doesn’t seem like every time the guy says it, that leadoff walk comes around to score. Denny knows a thing or two about how this game is played.

Denny often refers to this as “the dreaded leadoff walk.” He uttered these exact words several times throughout the ninth.

With Canha on first, Drew Waters was up next. Waters was 0-2 up to that point with a walk. Waters has aquitted himself quite well since getting called up to the team in mid-April. Entering play on Tuesday, Waters was hitting .284/.329/.432 with a 113 wRC+. That works. Especially for this outfield.

Waters, though, skied a 1-1 pitch on the infield.

Denny: Jammed him and a high popup on the infield. And it’s off the glove of the second baseman. They’re going to throw the ball to second wildly, they had a force play there. Here you go. The White Sox are on the verge of burping up this game.”

Denny’s call doesn’t really do this play justice. Probably because it was uniquely ridiculous. Meaning it was uniquely Chicago White Sox.

As Rex Hudler said on the TV broadcast, “Off his glove and off his dome!”

On Bluesky, I saw someone refer to this as “The Double Canseco.” I’m going to be thinking about that one for quite some time.

As the ball indeed bounced off Chase Meidroth’s dome, the Sox still had a play at second. That’s because Canha had to hold tight to first on the popup. Canha read the situation perfectly and broke for second as soon as the ball hit leather…or cap. Seriously, Meidroth looked like he had never been tasked with catching a fly ball. Once the ball caromed off his noggin, Canha was motoring to second. Michael A. Taylor, charging in from right to pick up the ball, let his momentum carry a bit too far and airmailed a throw to second. Had it been on target, Canha would’ve been out.

Instead, the Royals had firmly planted the roots of a rally. This game was officially a toss-up at this point, with the Royals having a 50 percent Win Expectancy.

Next was Freddy Fermin. Fermin bunted for a base hit earlier in the game, his second bunt hit of the season. He’s a good bunter, including that famous walk-off bunt last summer, and you knew the Royals would attempt to move the runners up 90 feet. I can’t quibble with a sacrifice here because…it’s the White Sox. Put on a little pressure—even with a sac bunt—and who knows what can happen.

Denny: “(Fermin) squares to bunt. He gets it down. How are they going to mess this one up? No throw!”

At this point, I’m in hysterics while listening to Denny. He knows how this story ends.

The Royals had the bases loaded, down a run with nobody out. A walk. An error. And a bunt single.

Denny: It’s a familiar refrain. Same old story. Good teams figure out a way to win in the late innings. Bad teams figure out a way to lose in the late innings. Boy, if we haven’t seen a perfect example of that, right here in front of us in the last five minutes.”

Kyle Isbel, who homered earlier in the game to put the Royals on the board, got under a 2-2 sweeper and popped it up on the infield. It could’ve been exciting, except the infield fly rule was in effect. For a moment, the White Sox are saved by Rule 5.09. One out. That feels like the only way the White Sox can actually record an out. (Spoiler alert: It was.)

The bases remained loaded and the lineup flipped over; Jonathan India was up. He smashed a grounder back up the middle at 104 mph off the bat. Shortstop Jacob Amaya made a diving stop. It was a good play. Until it wasn’t.

Denny: “The Royals, a hit away from a comeback victory. Fastball. Ground ball up the middle. Diving stop shortstop. To second base. Out. No! He’s safe! Pulled him off the bag. The tying run crosses the plate…And the White Sox now defensively are just boxing everything around.”

At this point, I’m wondering if the umpires and official scorer get together to rescind that infield fly rule out against Isbel. Just on general principles. With that tying run crossing the plate, and with the bases still loaded, the Royals now had an 83 percent chance of grabbing the victory.

Denny: “So now Bobby Witt Jr.. He’s 0-4. That’s not good news for the White Sox.”

These moments just seem to find Witt, don’t they? Bases loaded and one out with the winning run just 90 feet away. Witt just needed to get the ball in play. The White Sox would do the rest. At this point, it was a fait accompli.

Witt launched an elevated four-seamer to center field. It travelled 376 feet. Luis Robert Jr. did not seem the least bit interested in catching it.

Denny: “The 1-0 pitch. High fly ball to center field. It’s going to end the game whether he catches it or not. He doesn’t. It just drops and the Royals win it…So the Royals take advantage of, yes, the leadoff walk in the late innings.”

As Denny said, it didn’t matter whether Robert caught the ball or not, but the optics are kind of grim. That sentence encapsulates this entire Chicago White Sox franchise.

This was Witt’s second walk-off in his career. Could’ve fooled me. I thought he had a couple more, but maybe I’m counting that amazing grand slam off Jhoan Durán multiple times.

The ninth inning from the White Sox would’ve embarrassed Junior-C teams playing 3 & 2. Some tee-ball teams field their positions better, and that’s while they’re drawing pictures in the dirt. I’ve seen some horrific baseball in my time watching the Royals. I’ve never seen anything so sudden, so complete and so inept as that ninth inning.

It was also incredibly entertaining.

When the Royals beat the White Sox like this, they’re only doing what they’re supposed to be doing. That’s grabbing a victory against an inferior team. Put pressure on them. Do not go quietly. Make them earn it.

The Royals have won 14 of their last 15 games against the White Sox, dating back to the start of last season. The Royals are a good team. The White Sox are not. This is simply the natural order of the baseball universe.

The Royals have now won 13 of their last 15, which is their best 15-game span since August of 2016. They are a season-high five games over .500, and their 21 wins are tied for the second-most in the AL. Quite the turnaround from where this team was three weeks ago. The boys are, once again, playing some ball.