The losses kept piling up Thursday for the White Sox.
They lost manager Rick Renteria to a second-inning ejection.
They lost a three-run lead in the third.
And they lost their seventh consecutive game, falling to the Royals 6-5 in front of 13,157 at Kauffman Stadium.
“It has been a tough stretch, this one, because this is right after the All-Star break,” designated hitter Jose Abreu said through an interpreter. “We need to put all this in the past and start a new stretch (Friday). That’s where our focus is right now.”
Abreu drove in a run in the ninth to get the Sox within one. They had runners on first and second with two out, but Ian Kennedy struck out A.J. Reed to end the game.
Starter Ross Detwiler allowed five runs on eight hits in 2? innings as the brutal start to the second half continued for the Sox.
They have not won since returning from the All-Star break and are a season-worst nine games under .500 (42-51).
Manager Rick Renteria said his message to the team will be “keep playing.”
“This is just baseball,” Renteria said. “I wish that I could give you a rhyme and reason. Logically speaking, I can say we needed to minimize the damage that they were putting together after we took the lead. We kept coming back. We kept trying to chip away.
“We’ve got to keep playing and hopefully we put something of a streak together on the opposite end of the spectrum as we move forward. I’m not down on my guys. We are going to keep playing and keep doing what we have to do to try to put ourselves back on track.”
Plate umpire Adam Hamari ejected Renteria after a single by Yolmer Sanchez in the second.
“(Sanchez) got the base hit, (Hamari) turned in and said … he wasn’t going to have it,” Renteria said. “I might have yelled out ‘both ways’ or something previous to the base hit. He didn’t respond at that moment. But that was it.
“He looked in and said he wasn’t going to have it. I just asked him to please pay attention to the field. He said don’t tell him what to do. I asked him to pay attention to the field. He said goodbye.”
Yoan Moncada hit a solo home run in the third to give the Sox a 3-0 lead. He had three hits.
The wheels fell off in the bottom of the inning when the Royals scored five runs. Cheslor Cuthbert and Jorge Soler homered.
“I can’t remember one count I was ahead in,” Detwiler said. “I put them all in fastball counts and, especially with the fastball being up to everybody, I struggled getting that down. I struggled getting the changeup down. Maybe I threw one curveball or a cutter for a strike. It was awful.”
Billy Hamilton broke a tie with a two-run single off reliever Dylan Covey.
Detwiler and Covey have alternated turns in the rotation after the break. Renteria indicated Covey would likely start the next time through.
The Royals swept the Sox in a four-game series for the first time since July 25-28, 1994, at Kauffman Stadium.
Abreu said the team is missing injured shortstop Tim Anderson and left fielder Eloy Jimenez.
“Absolutely, absolutely,” Abreu said. “We need them. We’re missing them. But we need to deal with what we have here. Until the organization gives us a chance to bring the people up that can help us here.”
Tilson sent down: The Sox optioned outfielder Charlie Tilson to Triple-A Charlotte after the game. Tilson hit .229 with five doubles, one home run and 12 RBIs in 54 games after being recalled May 6.
