Strike up the band. The Kansas City Royals have absorbed some ugly defeats over the years, but Friday night’s 22-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox has added a new level of futility of its own.
As a margin of defeat, it was the worst loss in franchise history. The Royals had previously suffered several 18-run defeats, including a 19-1 loss to Cleveland in 2011, but they had never before lost a game by 21 runs. This one set a new low-water mark for a club that has been playing Major League Baseball since 1969.
It was no late blowout, position-player-pitching pile-on, either. Indeed, this one was blown out early, with the game was effectively over by the third frame.
A Blowout From Early On
The White Sox – whose offense has taken a big leap forward in 2026 – broke things open with a 10-run third inning that turned what had until that point been a scoreless game into an early rout. Miguel Vargas and Jacob Gonzalez both hit three-run home runs during the inning as the White Sox sent 14 batters to the plate and collected eight hits. And then things only got worse from there.
The White Sox scored once more in the fourth, twice in the fifth, four times in the sixth and five more in the seventh. They finished with 22 runs on 23 hits, homered five times and had multiple players enjoying career nights – rookie outfielder Tristan Peters hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, Vargas finished with five RBIs, Gonzalez also drove in five and infielder Chase Meidroth collected four hits, while nearly every hitter in Chicago’s line-up joined the party.
Meanwhile, Kansas City’s offense never gave itself a chance to respond. Not that it much mattered, of course, but the Royals managed only four hits all night, and their lone run came in the fourth inning when White Sox starter David Sandlin walked the bases loaded before a double-play ground ball allowed a run to score. Sandlin ultimately worked six innings, allowing just three hits and one run in a comfortable victory, and the division-leading Sox opened the gap over the last-place Royals to 9.5 games.
One team got much better. The other are the Royals.
Royals Going Nowhere, Slowly
Position player Tyler Tolbert eventually took the mound for the Royals simply to help preserve the bullpen. Awkwardly, though, he recorded a scoreless inning – something the professional pitchers had not managed.
Just days earlier, Kansas City had shown signs of turning around a lacklustre start to the season. They had beaten the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 behind seven strong innings from ex-Ray Michael Wacha – whom they will be hoping gets revenge over the Royals tonight – and had also handed the Rays a 12-5 loss earlier in the series. But whatever momentum existed from that series has disappeared quickly. The Royals were nearly no-hit in a 13-2 defeat to Tampa Bay to close out the series, with Carter Jensen’s late homer breaking up the bid, and twenty four hours later came the worst loss the franchise has ever experienced.
Baseball history contains some even larger blowouts. The major-league record remains the Chicago Colts’ 36-7 victory over the Louisville Colonels in 1897, a 29-run margin that still stands more than a century later. More recently, the Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 30-3 in 2007, winning by 27 runs. Those games remain a different level of embarrassment. But Friday’s result now places the 2026 Royals alongside some of the most lopsided losses any club has endured, and the worst that this one franchise ever has.
For the White Sox, it was one of the biggest offensive performances in franchise history and a welcome boost to a club sitting atop the American League Central at 42-38. For the Royals, it was the kind of night that leaves a scar. For both teams, though, it was indicative of their direction of travel.
Royals Manage to Lose in History-Making Fashion