Everything set up nicely for a rare White Sox win.
Jonathan Cannon pitched five innings of one-run ball in his major league debut. Paul DeJong gave him a one-run lead with a two-run homer in the second against Brady Singer.
But the Sox aren’t having any nice things in this most awful April.
Salvador Perez homered with two outs in the eighth inning against Michael Kopech, Hunter Renfroe homered against Dominic Leone in the ninth for an insurance run for a 4-2 victory, dealing the Sox their sixth straight defeat and dropping them to 2-15.
The Sox, who have lost 11 of their last 12, will try to avoid falling to 2-16 in Game 2 of their doubleheader.
Cannon, who struck out three and walked one while allowing three hits, threw 54 of 79 pitches for strikes. He should have had five scoreless innings on the first pitching line of his career, but center fielder Dominic Fletcher slipped coming in on Nelson Velazquez’ liner with two outs in the second, giving Velazquez a double. Adam Frazier followed with an RBI single.
DeJong hit his team-leading third homer with Eloy Jimenez (walk) on base in the bottom of the inning. DeJong had three of the Sox’ five hits, including a two-out double in the ninth that brought pinch-hitter Robbie Grossman to the plate as the tying run. But Grossman struck out looking against James McArthur to end the game.
The lead held up until the eighth, when Bobby Witt Jr. beat out a ground ball to third baseman Braden Shewmake for a single, stole second on the next pitch and scored one out later on the Perez homer, the catcher’s fifth.
The Royals are 12-6.