KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After the Royals’ Mark Canha walked to open the ninth inning Tuesday night, White Sox reliever Cam Booser got Drew Waters to pop up in the infield. As the ball descended, rookie Chase Meidroth, playing second base, was unable to locate it, and it bounced off his hat into right field.
That was the first mistake — one that woke up a dormant crowd of 15,968 at Kauffman Stadium with the Sox up 3-2.
They still had a chance to make the out. Michael A. Taylor launched a throw from right to Jacob Amaya, who was covering second, but overthrew him, leaving runners on first and second with no outs.
And the pain of Meidroth’s error continued. Freddy Fermin singled to load the bases. Booser got Kyle Isbel to pop out, but Jonathan India singled to shallow center, scoring Canha to tie the game. Bobby Witt Jr. then drove Waters home on a single to center to give the Royals a 4-3 walk-off victory.
The Sox (10-26), who had been so close to a complete victory, instead went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, then melted down at the end.
Until then, the crowd had been mostly quiet — the result of a remarkable outing from Sox starter Sean Burke, who cruised through 6⅓ innings of one-run ball. Emphasizing his fastball, the right-hander allowed four hits with three walks and two strikeouts in arguably his best outing of the season.
“He was pounding the zone,” manager Will Venable said. “Really good fastball today. The off-speed stuff was good, but I think it was really about the fastball command. He was attacking hitters the whole day and was super efficient there. . . . He did a great job.”
But that didn’t matter much — and neither did 10 hits by the Sox’ offense — after the mistakes in the ninth.
“Tough loss, no doubt about it,” Venable said. “We played a really good game up there until the ninth inning. And just like every game, we evaluate what we can do better for next time.”
Meidroth, who otherwise has had a mostly impressive first stint in the majors, owned his gaffe after the game.
“Just missed it,” he said. “It’s a ball that’s got to be caught.”
The Sox’ leaky defense actually started in the eighth, which began with them holding a 3-1 lead. They had two outs with Vinnie Pasquantino on first when left fielder Brooks Baldwin badly misplayed Salvador Perez’s sharp line drive that allowed Pasquantino to score. Jordan Leasure entered and recorded the final out of the inning.
“I don’t know if [Baldwin] had a great read on the ball,” Venable said. “You’ve got to get back there to make that play. [It was] another ball that you know probably should be caught. Brooks has been doing a great job out there. You know, it’s a tough play. Those balls from right-handed hitters in left that are hit right at you, it takes a little second to gauge the depth there, and it was a step short.”
Venable said the coaching staff will talk with Meidroth but that he’s “a gamer.”
“It’s a tough one,” Meidroth said. “That’s one that’s got to be won, but there’s [a game] tomorrow, so don’t dwell on [tonight’s loss] too long and get back tomorrow.”