Final Score: CWS 3 | KC 5

Overall Record: 6-4

Winning/Losing Pitcher:

• W: John Schrieber (1-0 | 0.00 ERA)
• L: Deivi Garcia (0-2 | 18.90 ERA)
• S: James McArthur (2 | 7.71 ERA)

Royals Player of the Game

MJ Melendez

1-3, HR(3), K 

MJ Melendez finished off his incredible series at the plate by belting a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the 7th. It’s the third game of this series that he has homered in to take the lead or extend the lead! To put it simply, MJ’s seeing the ball very well, and has been coming through in the clutch for the entire season so far. I don’t want to overreact, but he is really starting to remind me of what he looked like during his 2021 minor league campaign. Seeing baseballs just fly out of the ballpark like it’s nothing. It was deceptive in a way, you would see the fly ball and it would just carry and carry until the outfielders just ran out of room. And that’s what it has looked like the past few days. Solid contact in the air that just keeps going. Another important thing to note, that the pitch that he homered on, is the same pitch he struck out on a LOT last season. He knew that he was able to hit that pitch, and supply damage for that matter, but now the confidence has found its way along. Who knows what will happen with MJ the rest of the season, but if anything, he should be fun to watch.

Key Highlights

The beginning of the contest started off slow from the Royals bats, as Garrett Crochett was able to dominate through his first five innings of work. Alec Marsh was on the bump for the Royals, and he worked himself out of trouble the first couple innings. But once the 3rd inning started, he got hit a bit more. Give some credit to Marsh, who didn’t have his best stuff all day and limited them to only three runs, with two in the 3rd and another in the 4th. He also got away with a lot as well, and if anyone else but the White Sox were hitting it could’ve been a different story. But you can’t control who you pitch against. Before getting to the offense, I want to highlight how good the bullpen was in this series. 11.1 scoreless innings in a series is tough to do, especially after some of the issues that were happening at the start. I like James McArthur back there. His pitch mix will be something tough to prepare for. The other big boost from the offense on Sunday was Hunter Renfroe hitting his first home run in a Royals uniform. If he gets going it just makes this lineup that much deeper. He’s had a pretty tough start to the season, but honestly, if he’s the problem. Good. I’d rather see a proven veteran struggle, than an unproven piece we’d like to rely on. 

Freddy Fermin also made his presence known with a couple hits, and good heads up baserunning, which is rare for a catcher. Dairon Blanco had another stolen base in this game, making him quite a valuable asset on the Royals’ bench. Getting in scoring position was a great idea! Until MJ Melendez made sure that that didn’t even matter, he’ll just hit it over everyone anyway. The White Sox actually had more than double the amount of hits the Royals had, and still came up short. There was also some lack of effort from a few White Sox today, that was pretty tough to see. Talk about some tough times looming. 

Summary of the Next Game

The Royals get a day off on Monday but don’t worry. Get your trash cans ready, cause the Astros are headed to town to start a series on Tuesday. With a matchup of dominant young starters on the mound in game one. Christian Javier starts from the Astros, who hasn’t given up a run in his 11.0 innings pitched this season. The Royals will try to change that, as they send out their ace, the southpaw Cole Ragans. It’s a 6:40p first pitch on Tuesday, as the Royals will continue to try to prove their worth against one of the better rosters in baseball. 

Image credit: Jamie Squire, Getty Images