KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The 2017 season was done months ago. The 2018 season has just begun. But one thing has stayed constant from year to year: Ricky's boys don't quit.
The White Sox couldn't do much against Kansas City Royals pitching Saturday night, even with Ian Kennedy's pitch total climbing with speed early in the game. But after going scoreless for six innings in the middle of the game, the bats came to life in the top of the eighth, turning a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead on a couple big extra-base hits.
Yoan Moncada led off the inning with his first home run of the campaign to make it a one-run game.
Welington Castillo then picked an opportune time to pick up his first hit of the season, rocketing a two-out double off the wall in right field and easily scoring Jose Abreu and pinch-runner Tyler Saladino to put the visiting South Siders on top.
The late offensive surge not only continued to play up the never-quit narrative Rick Renteria and the White Sox are trying to establish with this young team, but it overshadowed an at-times shaky performance from Lucas Giolito in his 2018 debut. Giolito turned in a quality start with only three runs allowed in six innings. But he also walked four batters and hit another, putting multiple runners on base in three of those six frames.
Battling from behind will surely please the manager — and any fans out there who get a kick out of Ricky's boys and their refusal to quit.