Bobby Witt Jr. hit a grand slam, his fourth hit of the game, to finish off Kansas City’s six-run rally in the eighth inning, leading the Royals to an 8-5 win over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.
Witt launched a low slider from John Brebbia into the left-center stands for his 19th home run and third career grand slam. He also had two singles and a double as the Royals handed the White Sox their 15th consecutive loss, setting a franchise record.
Witt extended his hitting streak to 11 games. The 24-year-old All-Star shortstop is hitting .545 (24 for 44) during this stretch.
“I’m just trying to be ready for every pitch because you never know what you’re going to get in the big leagues,” Witt said. “These pitchers are good so you just want to be prepared.”
With Kansas City down 5-2 going into the eighth inning, Hunter Renfroe and MJ Melendez hit back-to-back solo home runs off reliever Steven Wilson. Brebbia (0-6) hit Adam Frazier with a pitch and walked Michael Massey before Witt’s grand slam.
“Those guys put together good at-bats, so I had to do my part,” Witt said. “There was always kind of a momentum swing or whatever it is, but I think that we just believe in ourselves.”
The Royals improved to 58-49 and stayed in contention for the final AL Wild Card spot.
“There were so many things that went well tonight, but Bobby’s definitely the headline,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. “Great, great poise to not try to do too much and he’s just got so much talent, so much bat speed and power.”
Luis Robert Jr. had three hits and an RBI, and Andrew Vaughn hit a solo home run for the White Sox. At 27-82, Chicago is 55 games below .500 for the first time in franchise history and has a worse record than the 1962 New York Mets (29-80) through 109 games.
Andrew Benintendi drove in a run with a double, and Paul DeJong added an RBI single in Chicago’s two-run sixth inning to put them ahead. However, the White Sox blew a save for the MLB-leading 27th time.
