'Explosive' Royals punk White Sox bullpen yet again

During the ninth inning of Tuesday's game between the White Sox and the Kansas City Royals at Rate Field, Sox announcer John Schriffen called the Kansas City offense "explosive."

John, my man, I hate to tell you this, but the Royals rank 14th out of 15 American League teams in runs scored this season. They are even below the Sox, who are 13th in the league. Kansas City is on the outside of the playoff picture right now because its offense has been among the worst in baseball.

Sure, the Royals punked the Sox again on Tuesday night, scoring two runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to erase a four-run deficit and beat the South Siders, 5-4.

But I'm sorry, this is not a good Kansas City offense. It's a bad Chicago bullpen, plain and simple.

The Royals had no answers for Sox journeyman lefty Martin Perez, who allowed no runs on one hit and walked nobody over the first seven innings of this game.

He left the mound with a 4-0 lead and probably thought he had victory in the bag. Alas, Jordan Leasure, Grant Taylor and Tyler Alexander combined to light the game on fire.

Leasure gave up two runs in the eighth. Taylor (0-4) gave up three hits in the ninth to load the bases, and then Alexander surrendered two hits that allowed all the inherited runners to score. 5-4 Royals. Ballgame.

Colson Montgomery homered for the fourth consecutive game for the Sox. I guess that's nice. He now has 14 for the season and has a chance to end up as the team leader. He's three homers behind Lenyn Sosa.

Luis Robert Jr. left the game with a left hamstring strain. He's hasn't been on the injured list since July, so he's about due to be sidelined.

The Sox are 48-84. 

Can't anybody in Atlanta pitch?

During their three-game weekend series in Kansas City, the White Sox got swept because they had trouble scoring runs. In fact, they touched home plate only five times total in the series.

Now that the scene has shifted to Atlanta, the Sox bats have suddenly come to life. They've scored 23 runs in the first two games against the Braves.

That's good; that's great.

The problem is, that offensive explosion has only resulted in a 1-1 record. After winning 13-9 on Monday night, the Sox blew a six-run lead Tuesday, losing 11-10 to the Braves.

It wasn't starter Shane Smith's fault. Sure, he was mediocre over six innings pitched, allowing four runs on seven hits. But when Smith recorded the final out of the bottom of the sixth inning, he walked off the mound with a 10-4 lead.

You would think the bullpen could cover the remaining nine outs, but you would be wrong. Sox relief pitching blew this with a remarkable quickness, giving up five runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth.

The Braves didn't even need to bat in the bottom of the ninth after trailing by six in the seventh. Pretty embarrassing for the Sox.

There were some highlights for the position players. Kyle Teel was 2 for 5 with four RBIs, a two-run double and a two-run homer included. Luis Robert Jr. had a two-out, three-run double that capped a five-run outburst in the fifth inning. Miguel Vargas was 2 for 4 with three runs scored and an RBI.

Some moral victories there, but the Sox bullpen appears to be running on fumes. There have just been too many innings to cover, with starting pitchers failing to work past five innings in too many games.

The front office realizes it, and they've been churning the bullpen to try to keep fresh arms available. One night after getting shelled for four runs in one-third of an inning, Owen White was placed on the injured list with a hip impingement, and Elvis Peguero was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.

Alas, Peguero -- along with Tyler Gilbert -- was one of the culprits in surrendering the five-run seventh inning. Peguero issued two walks and retired only one of the four batters he faced.

Tyler Alexander (4-11) and Steven Wilson combined to surrender the lead in the eighth, with Alexander earning the loss and Wilson earning the blown save.

The Sox are 45-81. Unfortunately, there are 36 games left to play in this miserable season, which is now a near-lock to end with 100-plus losses. The pitching staff still has another 300-plus innings to cover. It's going to be ugly.