Just when going gets tough, it gets even tougher for White Sox, who lose to Royals and fall to 1-8

 KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Getting the White Sox out of their hitting funk, and out of it soon, seems necessary to avoiding a losing season of epic proportions.

Through nine games, the Sox’ starting pitching has been good enough to give this team a fighting chance with four quality starts, tied for second in the American League, and an ERA of 2.59 in the last four games. But they’ve scored 16 runs, which more than anything explains a record that fell to 1-8 with the Royals’ 5-3 victory Sunday.

Manager Pedro Grifol is dealing with a short deck now, too, with Eloy Jimenez (adductor strain) and Luis Robert Jr. (Grade 2 hip flexor strain) on the injured list.

The Sox’ expectation is that Robert will be out approximately six to eight weeks. If Jimenez returns next weekend, and that’s still to be determined, the best case scenario is a 10-game absence.

“Those are blows,” Grifol said.

But Grifol insists what’s left to choose from for his lineup is enough.

“These guys have a track record,” Grifol said Sunday. “We played eight games, we want to be better, we should be better, we’re not. We gotta improve and get to where we know we can get to and produce runs. We’re in the cages, we’re working, talking, preparing — you name it. And we’re eight games into it. We have to find a way and find it quick and settle in to who we are.”

Grifol said if this were happening in August, the reaction would be “everybody goes thought it.”

“We’re just going through it now in April,” he said.

The 13 runs through the first eight games were the fewest in the majors and and second fewest in franchise history through eight games. The Sox have been shut out three times already.

The Sox were also last in the majors in hits (43), average (.177), on-base percentage (.248) and OPS (.553).

“It has been difficult, but we can’t put our heads down,” said Yoan Moncada, who entered Sunday’s game against the Royals in Kansas City batting .250/.364/.393. “We have to keep our head up and try to battle and do whatever we can to make this team get going.”

Grifol switched the lineup up Sunday, moving Robbie Grossman, a disciplined career .344 on-base percentage guy, struggling leadoff man Andrew Benintendi to fifth. The Sox were 4-for-38 with runners in scoring position, and Grifol alluded to Benintendi’s .368/.473/.461 hitting line in high leverage situations last year and ability to drive in runs.

But in his first at-bat, after Andrew Vaughn took strike three with Moncada on third and Gavin Sheets on second against Royals righty Alec Marsh in the first, Benintendi struck out, his average dropping to .091.

When you’re going bad, you’re going bad wherever you are.

“These guys have been around for a little bit,” Grifol said. “They know how to hit. Benny is a hitter man, he’s hit. Vaughn is a hitter, he’s hit. YoYo has done his thing. We lost Eloy, we lost Robert, those are blows. So these guys, they’ve hit, man. Just not right now, it’s a part of it. If we were going through this thing in August the term would be, ‘well, everyone goes through it.”

Benintendi, who had two hits, walked leading off the fourth against Marsh, and scored on a close play at home on Dominic Fletcher’s double. Fletcher went to third on the throw and scored on Braden Shewmake’s sacrifice fly, giving Garrett Crochet a 2-0 lead. Crochet was perfect through three innings.

Benintendi then singled in the Sox’ third run, giving Crochet a 3-0 lead, a lead that did not hold up. Hunter Renfroe hit a two-run homer against Crochet (five innings, two runs), MJ Melendez hit a two-run homer against Deivi Garcia in the seventh and errors by by center fielder Dominic Fletcher and reliever Dominic Leone produced a three-run seventh for the Royals, who were trying for a four-game sweep.

 “We’re just going through it now in April,” Grifol said. “We have to find a way to get through it. There’s no excuse. There is some urgency, not running away from that. But you know what? We’re working. We’re working.”