The second half gets off to a winning start.
The Royals erupted for a five-run fifth inning and Bobby Witt Jr. went 3-for-3 with a home run and walk as the Royals got the second half of the season off to a great start, cruising to a 7-1 win over the White Sox.
Bobby was in the Home Run Derby on Monday, but he seemed to think he was still participating in his first at-bat today. In the first inning, he pulled a pitch to left and over the wall for a solo home run, his 17th of the year.
Bobby Witt Jr. brought his home run swing to the second half. pic.twitter.com/fsZkPmsMXO
— MLB (@MLB) July 20, 2024
In the third inning, he wanted to prove the Derby had not messed up his swing, by going with the pitch and slapping a high slider up the middle for a single to score Maikel Garcia to make it 2-0 Royals.
The Royals exploded for a big inning in the fifth. They showed good patience in the fifth off White Sox starter Chris Flexen. He walked Maikel Garcia and Kyle Isbel to open the inning, then after a sac bunt by Adam Frazier, Bobby Witt Jr. walked to load the bases. Vinnie Pasquantino drilled a pitch 375 feet for a loud out, but plenty long enough to score Garcia.
The White Sox elected to intentionally walk Salvador Perez to load the bases again, but that gave Flexen no margin for error, and when he plunked Hunter Renfroe, it forced in another run. Michael Massey, who has been a White Sox destroyer in his career, singled home two more runs. Freddy Fermin added another RBI single to make it a five-run inning. In all, the Royals sent ten men to the plate and ended the inning with a 7-0 lead.
Michael Wacha did not encounter much trouble all night, posting seven goose eggs on the board with seven strikeouts and one walk, retiring 12 in a row at one point. Chris Stratton gave up a solo home run to White Sox catcher Korey Lee for their only run of the game. Alec Marsh came in relief in the ninth to give him some work between his long layoff between starts, pitching a scoreless inning.
The Royals improve to 53-45 and can take the series tomorrow evening with Brady Singer will take on Jonathan Cannon at 6:10 CT.
