Jac Caglianone, Salvador Perez help Royals salvage series vs. White Sox

CHICAGO — Baseball has a way of restoring balance. The Kansas City Royals were reminded of that over the weekend against the Chicago White Sox.

The Royals entered the three-game series having won 10 consecutive games against their American League Central rivals. It was their seventh double-digit winning streak vs. one opponent in franchise history. Kansas City had outscored Chicago 50-14 during a run that began on July 19, 2024.

Suffice to say the White Sox were overdue for a win in these head-to-head matchups.

And, sure enough, Chicago responded at home. The Royals (34-32) dropped two of three games at Rate Field in disappointing fashion. The White Sox snapped their Kansas City losing streak Friday and followed with a convincing 4-1 win on Saturday.

The Royals struggled with runners in scoring position all weekend. They squandered two prime opportunities Saturday; captain Salvador Perez was at the center of that, as he struck out four times.

Perez atoned for his mistakes on Sunday. He led the way with an early home run as the Royals salvaged a 7-5 win in the series finale. There were other heroes, too: Jac Caglianone belted four hits — his first multi-hit game in the major leagues — and Bobby Witt Jr. hit his eighth homer.

“You’ve got to keep putting good at-bats together,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “It took us a long time to break through, but with (Jonathan) India and Maikel (Garcia) and Drew’s (Waters) at-bat, it started that (seventh) inning big-time.

“For those guys to come through with the hits, with runners in scoring position — and Bobby with the homer — we needed to expand and we were able to today.”

As a result of their recent inconsistency, however, the Royals have slid down the AL Central standings in recent weeks. And losing a series to the White Sox compounds matters with the New York Yankees rolling into Kauffman Stadium for a series that begins Tuesday night.

Things aren’t quite dire in Kansas City, but the Royals are approaching a concern level that hasn’t been felt here in some time. The hope is that Sunday’s win can generate positive momentum entering a tough stretch at home.

Here are a couple more takeaways from the Royals’ trip to Chicago:

Caglianone finding big-league rhythm

Adjusting to life in the majors isn’t easy for any rookie. The game is faster and the players are better at every turn. Veteran experience is always at a premium.

Royals right fielder Caglianone is learning on the fly. Since being called up to the majors last week, he has dealt with some tough breaks as the recipient of unfair luck. White Sox star Luis Robert robbed him of a base hit Friday night and Caglianone generated a pair of loud outs.

“Jac’s had 20 at-bats and he squared a bunch of balls up in those 20,” Quatraro said. “Today he got rewarded for it. Any time you can do that, it’s a plus to keep squaring them up.”

Caglianone logged the first four-hit game of his career Sunday, with three singles and a double. His major-league batting average jumped 145 points — he is currently hitting .240.

“It felt really good, but huge thanks here to all the guys in the locker room,” Caglianone said. “They were very supportive through it all.

“Ten balls (hit) hard and not really much to show for it. Thankfully they found some grass today. I’m happy for that ... We are going to have a happy flight home.”

Now Caglianone heads home to Kauffman Stadium for the first time. The Royals begin a three-game series against the Yankees at The K on Tuesday night, and it will be Caglianone’s home debut as a big-leaguer.

“I’m super fired up,” Caglianone said. “I think I’m more excited for that than the actual debut. I know (there) should be a lot of family and friends to come to that. I’m excited to see them and I’m excited to see all of the fans at The K.”

Michael Lorenzen soars in critical start

The Royals have a slight dilemma within their starting rotation. The club has six healthy starters and just five spots available.

It’s a good problem to have, but Quatraro must decide which of his starters will fill those slots.

Michael Lorenzen made a good case for inclusion Sunday afternoon. He allowed two runs — both on a first-inning homer by Chicago’s Miguel Vargas — and just one hit in six innings against the White Sox.

He struck out seven and walked two while throwing 60 of 92 pitches for strikes.

“I felt like I was making better quality pitches,” Lorenzen said. “We changed up the usage a little bit and it paid off.

“The first-inning homer was a bad two-seam in. You can let that feel like, ‘Oh, here we go again,’ or you can just take accountability and hold yourself accountable. Make the adjustments you need to make, be a big-league pitcher and try to get guys out.”

Lorenzen admitted his last two starts weren’t up to his standard. He said he had since committed to diagnosing his problems on the mound. He spent time watching video of his outings and came up with a plan to be more efficient.

“We did a deep dive into that and saw what adjustments we can make with the pitch usage,” he said. “There were some glaring holes in the results I was getting. So when you have those type of glaring holes, it’s a little easier to make an adjustment or blame it on something. We were able to cling to what we are able to do today a little more.”

Sure enough, Lorenzen showed better control Sunday after walking a batter and allowing the early homer. He shook off those mistakes and settled in nicely during an important starting assignment on the road.

He finished by retiring 16 of the last 17 batters he faced. The Royals then turned to their bullpen to get the final nine outs of the game.

“I thought today, after the first couple of hitters, his command looked really good,” Quatraro said. “He got his slider where he wanted and his changeup was good, like it always is. You couldn’t ask for much more. He gave up one hit in six innings.”

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