KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Royals shut out the White Sox 2-0 for a second straight game Saturday afternoon, as the Sox scramble to find any hint of early-season life in their bats.
Starter Erick Fedde turned in another solid performance from a suddenly reliable rotation, giving up a solo home run to Maikel Garcia on his first pitch but only scattering two other hits over five innings, with four strikeouts and a walk.
The Sox got four hits — including doubles from Andrew Benintendi and Lenyn Sosa, as well as rookie third baseman Tanner Murray’s first career base hit — but couldn’t do anything with them as Royals starter Michael Wacha breezed through seven innings.
KC got insurance in the eighth with a double from Bobby Witt Jr., who later scored on a sacrifice fly.
After some first-week fireworks, the Sox have scored just eight runs in their past six games, while their hitters haven’t gone yard for a full week.
“In the early going here, you’d love to have some more results, score some more runs. We know that they can be tough to come by here in April,” manager Will Venable said before the game. “As this group continues to get comfortable with each other and continues to find ways to put an offensive gameplan together… we have confidence that they’re going to be able to do it. We’ve just got to get on some heaters.”
Davitt’s first draft
Sportswriter-turned-MLB pitcher Duncan Davitt made his big-league debut Friday in the eighth inning of the Sox’ 2-0 loss to Kansas City.
Davitt, who moonlights as a high school sports reporter for an Iowa newspaper owned by his parents, walked the first batter he faced, then induced a double play ball from All-Star third baseman Maikel Garcia and a flyout from the superstar Witt Jr.
“There’s something to be said about being forged in fire, so if you go through those two guys and manage to come out unscathed, it’s a nice learning experience and an, ‘OK, I can do this,’ kind of a moment,” Davitt said.
He grew up a Yankees fan but regularly made the three-hour trip from the Des Moines area for games at Kauffman Stadium, where he had plenty of family and friends in attendance for his first outing.
“I’m not going to lie, I tried to keep my eyes from going up into the stands, just because it’s a lot bigger venue than most of the places down in the minor leagues. But the eyes went up anyway,” Davitt said. “Sitting in the dugout afterward, and I was going to meet some family… seeing the fireworks, it’s a feeling unmatched. You can’t get anything better.”
He wrote a column for the Indianola Independent Advocate that was published online after his Thursday call-up, but it’ll be a while before he’s back in print.
“I think ‘missed deadline’ is a good way to put it,” Davitt said. “I’m sure there’s something coming down eventually.”
Pereirin’ to go
Outfielder Everson Pereira, sidelined since April 1 with a sprained ankle, was set to report to Triple-A Charlotte for a rehab stint.