These are not your 2024 White Sox. For good measure, these are not your 2024 Royals, either. These three games settled that matter.

Just two years ago, the Royals rolled the Sox in 12 of their 13 contests en route to qualifying for the postseason. The White Sox were condemned to finish with 121 losses.

I feel confident that this year’s edition of the Chicago White Sox will avoid the yoke of 100-plus losses for the first time in four seasons. After watching another putid stretch of uninspiring baseball, I’m questioning whether this version of the Royals will show in October. It doesn’t look good.

The culprit in Thursday’s 6-2 defeat was the same as the previous two games: Lackluster starting pitching. Just check out these lines from the starters in this three-game set:

Steven Kolek
4.2 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

Seth Lugo
5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Kris Bubic
4 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

If you’re interested in the ugly math, that’s a 9.88 ERA from the starters in the series. When the starters are spotting the opposition five runs, I’m not liking the Royals chances. Even if the bats somehow make the game competitive.

I do kind of appreciate the fact after falling by a 6-5 scoreline in the first two games of the series, the Royals just kind of curled up into a ball and went quietly. No false hope given.

That’s not entirely accurate as there was a brief, early sliver of hope. Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. both singled to get the game started. With runners on the corners and no outs, it had the makings of a large inning. It was not.

Lane Thomas hit a sacrifice fly to bring in a run. The Royals are leading the league in sacrifice flys to this point. Thomas’ was number 20 on the season for the Royals. I bring this up only because it feels as though a larger than average portion of the runs this team has scored this season have come while the batter was making an out. More on that in a moment…

White Sox starter Anthony Kay stymied the Royals a month ago, holding them scoreless over 5.2 innings of work. The lefty didn’t retire the side in order all night, but was able to navigate any potential danger through a season-high six innings. He allowed a triple to his final batter of the night, Kyle Isbel leading off the seventh.

Another scoring opportunity, right? Well, they did score. And it did come while they were making an out with Isbel crossing the plate on a Garcia ground out. It’s difficult to maintain a rally when outs are being made.

I’m back (barely) after a brief sojourn away from the keyboard. The month of May has been, and will continue to be, a busy one. Graduation season, visiting family members and a move have kept me occupied the last week and a half. Things are still a bit hectic, but I’m hoping to get back into something of a posting rhythm over the next week or so.

Every team in the American League has played at least 42 games in 2026 and there are just five of them with winning records. The Rays are setting the pace with a .667 winning percentage. The Yankees are close on their heels at .617. The Guardians lead the Central at .533. The White Sox sweep of the Royals means the Southsiders have a .512 winning percentage. In the West, the A’s have a similar record.

A week ago, the Royals were the hottest team in the league, charging up the standings. Now they’re occupying the basement along with the Detroit Tigers. These standings make absolutely zero sense to me.

I wrote that this just-completed 10 game stretch against teams in the AL Central was an opportunity for the Royals to make up some ground they lost early in the season when they stumbled out of the blocks. They went 4-6. As we’ve seen through these first two months, they’re just not good enough.

The Royals travel back to Missouri to face the Cardinals in some sort of MLB ginned up rivalry weekend. St. Louis is in the middle of the pack in their division with a 25-18 record. They’re punching above their weight, but that makes them dangerous. The same could be said about every other NL Central team as all five currently have winning records.

What a crazy season.

Fri at STL - RHP Michael Wacha (4-2, 2.63) vs. RHP Dustin May (3-4, 4.85) at 7:15 p.m.
Sat at STL - LHP Noah Cameron (2-2, 5.55) vs. RHP Kyle Leahy (4-3, 4.31) at 1:15 p.m.
Sun at STL - RHP Stephen Kolek (1-0, 6.75) vs. RHP Andre Pallante (4-3, 4.46) at 1:15 p.m.