it was the bullpen"On the heels of a walk-off victory over Cleveland, the R

Once again Jose Abreu Jersey ,oyals hit the road for the second time this season. Stomping into the south side of Chicago to take on the White Sox, Kansas City was greeted by an old friend. 36-year-old Ervin Santana, who pitched for the Royals in 2013, took his 17.13 ERA in hopes of halting the win streak at three. For Kansas City, Heath Fillmyer took the mound in hopes of bouncing back after failing to work further than four innings last Wednesday against Seattle. Although Scott Barlow worked two solid innings of relief, Brad Boxberger managed to give up the lead for the fourth time this season. Failing to hold the one-run lead, the Royals dropped game one to their rival, 5-4. Following two clean innings from both sides, the visitors’ bats struck first and loud in the top of the second. Starting things off with Hunter Dozier, who came in 10 for his last 20 Melky Cabrera Jersey , the third basemen parked a solo home run into the seats in left-center to open up the scoring. Three batters later, Chris Owings knocked his first home run as a Royal just above the fence in right-center field, giving Kansas City a quick 3-0 advantage. For Heath Fillmyer, it was smooth sailing for the first 4 ?innings. Unfortunately, a handful of fantastic defense plays were overturned in the White Sox favor, allowing them to plate three runs in the fifth in a 25-minute half inning. Erasing the Royals lead and chasing Fillmyer out after five innings of work, Kansas City turned to Scott Barlow to keep it tied for the time being. Unlike numerous members of the bullpen-Barlow worked two scoreless frames-tallying four strikeouts in total. Similar to their glory days, the Royals reclaimed the lead with the act of small ball. Notching their fourth run on a Whit Merrifield SAC-fly in the top of the seventh, the bullpen was asked once again to hold the lead. Putting faith in Boxberger and his sky-high ERA, Kansas City paid for it in the worst of ways. Allowing a leadoff double to Tim Anderson, Boxberger immediately surrendered the lead to a .073 hitter in Castillo on a two-run bomb into the right-field bullpen. The top of the ninth witnessed a spark after Chris Owings drew a leadoff walk Jeff Keppinger Jersey , but Soler and Hamilton struck out on six pitches and Merrifield lined out softly to second. The blown game was the seventh on the year for the Royals. Tomorrow, they will turn to Jorge Lopez to avoid losing the series. The White Sox will counter with Reynaldo Lopez, who Kansas City faced back on March 30th. First pitch is set for 7:10 CT. After nearly four seasonsas manager, Jeff Banister was fired by the Texas Rangers on Friday in the midst of a 64-88campaign.According to Rangers Executive Vice President of CommunicationsJohn Blake, Banister's dismissal is effective immediately, and he will be replaced by bench coach Don Wakamatsu on an interim basis for the final 10 games of the season.During his time in Texas, the 54-year-old went325-313and led the Rangers to the playoffs on two occasions.The Rangers struggled to compete in the competitive American League West thisseason, in part because of injuries suffered by a number of key players.Texas is last in the AL West, 31.0 games behind the division-leading Houston Astros and 10.5 games behind the fourth-place Los Angeles Angels.Second baseman Rougned Odor, shortstop Elvis Andrus, third baseman Adrian Beltre and outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. all spent time on the disabled list this season.Texas also pieced together a veteran-laden starting rotation that opposing teams hit too easily over the course of the season.Banister's tenure with the Rangers started off promisingly http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-paul-konerko-jersey , as he won the AL West and qualified for the playoffs in each of his first two seasons.After going 88-74 in 2015, Texas fell in five games to the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Division Series.The Rangers then went 95-57 in 2016, but they were swept out of the ALDS by Toronto.Texas dropped to 78-84 in 2017, and things continued to get worse for the team in 2018.Despite their issues over the past two seasons, the Rangers have been one of the most successful franchises in Major League Baseball since 2010.They reached the playoffs in three straight seasons from 2010-2012, including two trips to the World Series.After a two-year hiatus, the Rangers made the playoffs in 2015 and 2016 as well.Texas was never able to seal the deal and win a World Series during its string of success, and it appears far away from competing for a championship considering how stacked the American League is.A new voice in the clubhouse may be beneficial to the Rangers, but given how poorly the team has played, a rebuild may be in order.