Former Royals outfielder Randal Grichuk helps White Sox beat KC, finish 3-game sweep in Chicago

Pete Grathoff, The Kansas City Star on May 14, 2026

Published in Baseball

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CHICAGO — The Royals’ rotation was among the best in baseball for the first six weeks of the season, but Kansas City’s starting pitchers have hit a collective pothole.

After turning in a quality start in 19 of the Royals’ first 36 games, the staff’s starters have just one in their last eight contests.

The latest pitcher to struggle was left-hander Kris Bubic, the loser in the Royals’ 6-2 loss to the White Sox at Rate Field on Thursday night. Bubic (3-2) allowed five runs on five hits and three walks in five innings with four strikeouts. He threw 50 strikes among his 84 pitches.

Former Royals outfielder Randal Grichuk did the most damage against Bubic. After the Royals scored in the top of the first inning, Grichuk hit a two-run homer in the bottom half to give Chicago a 2-1 lead.

Grichuk also delivered a two-run single in the third inning.

Grichuk, who was acquired by the Royals ahead of last summer’s MLB trade deadline, had three hits and fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. The four RBIs nearly matched his season total entering the game (five).

Royals swept out of Chicago

Chicago swept the three-game series at Rate Field and moved a game above .500 at 22-21. The Royals dropped their fourth straight and are 19-26.

This was just the Royals’ second series loss to the White Sox since 2024.

The Royals were a half-game out of first place on May 5, but they’re now 4 1/2 back of the Guardians. KC is tied with Detroit for fourth place in the five-team American League Central.

Fast start but could’ve been more

The Royals got on the board quickly as Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. opened the game with singles.

Lane Thomas’ sacrifice fly scored Garcia. With two outs, Nick Loftin was hit by a pitch, but the Royals stranded two runners when Vinnie Pasquantino struck out.

In the fifth, the Royals had two on with one out, but catcher Salvador Perez hit into an inning-ending double play.

Up next

The Royals open a three-game set in St. Louis on Friday. Right-hander Michael Wacha, who made his big league debut with the Cardinals in 2015, will start for KC. The Cards will counter with right-hander Dustin May. First pitch is at 7:15 p.m.