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White Sox take 3 of 4 in Kansas City, leave Kauffman in first — even after Bieber’s Sunday buzzsaw

The Chicago White Sox walked into Kansas City for a four-gamer with a chance to put real daylight between themselves and the AL Central pack — and they mostly did it the hard way: tight late innings, aggressive baserunning, and a bullpen that kept slamming doors.

When the dust settled, the Sox were 30-23 and still sitting 1st in the AL Central, while the Royals fell to 24-30. The only sour note was the finale, when Shane Bieber turned the series into a one-man clinic and reminded Chicago that sometimes you just tip your cap and move on.

Still, it was a statement set: three wins in four games on the road, highlighted by Edgar Quero’s loudest moments and Colson Montgomery’s red-hot month officially getting league-wide recognition.

Game 1 (May 28): White Sox 2, Royals 1 — Quero detonates the ninth

It was scoreless tension for five innings, then a Royals punch first: Joey Bart jumped a Cannon pitch in the 4th for a solo shot, and suddenly Chicago was staring at one of those “we had chances” nights.

But the Sox kept leaning on pressure — walks, steals, traffic — and finally cracked it in the 6th. Wilfred Veras worked a walk, Bryan Ramos ripped a double, and a wild pitch brought the tying run home.

Then the hammer: Edgar Quero stepped in during the 9th and launched a go-ahead solo homer to flip the whole game on its head. Jonathan Cannon (6 IP, 1 ER) gave them exactly what they needed, and the bullpen finished the job with Edwin Díaz locking down the save.

Vibe check: win a one-run grinder on the road, then let the clubhouse exhale.

Game 2 (May 29): White Sox 6, Royals 3 — early ambush, then survive the weird

Chicago came out swinging in the 3rd, stringing hits and chaos into a three-run inning — including run-scoring contact that kept forcing Kansas City to make plays under stress. They tacked on two more in the 4th, and when the Royals tried to answer, the Sox kept counterpunching.

Grant Taylor gutted through 6 innings, the bullpen stitched it together, and Díaz finished off another save.

The big storyline underneath the box: this game got messy physically for Kansas City. The notes were brutal — Dairon Blanco injured running the bases, Bobby Witt Jr. injured in a collision, and Josh Salmonson injured running the bases. It had the feel of a night where every hard 90 feet carried consequences.

Game 3 (May 30): White Sox 4, Royals 0 — Shane Smith and Ky Bush erase the Royals

This one was clean, loud, and controlled.

In the 1st inning, Luis Robert Jr. got on, stole second, and Quero made it hurt with a two-run homer that instantly took the air out of Kauffman. Then in the 7th, Montgomery joined the party with a two-run blast to make it 4-0, and that was basically the end of the conversation.

Shane Smith delivered six scoreless, and Ky Bush slammed the last three innings for a save — a four-hit shutout that felt like Chicago’s pitching staff putting a stamp on the series.

Game 4 (May 31): Royals 6, White Sox 0 — Bieber shuts off the lights

The Sox entered Sunday with a chance to sweep the road set. Instead, they ran into a wall with a Cy Young résumé.

Shane Bieber went 8 shutout innings with 11 strikeouts, and Chicago never found a clean answer. They managed five hits, but the threat never really lingered long enough to make the Royals sweat.

Kansas City struck early (2 in the 1st), then kept stacking damage — including a Cam Devanney solo homer and a Stuart Fairchild two-run shot — and suddenly a 3-0 game became a 6-0 runway.

It was the classic “win the series, lose the finale” landing — unpleasant, but not the kind that changes what the weekend meant.

Series themes that mattered
Edgar Quero was the heartbeat

If you’re looking for the series MVP, it’s hard to argue against the catcher/DH who hit the biggest homer of the set (May 28) and then opened the scoring with another bomb (May 30). In a series defined by tight margins, he kept supplying the swing that changed the scoreboard.

Colson Montgomery’s May went national

Even with the Sunday shutout, Montgomery’s month was too loud to ignore: he was named AL Player of the Week and AL Player of the Month for May. The timing couldn’t be better for Chicago — a division leader getting star-level production from a cornerstone bat.

The roster churn hit mid-series

Miguel Vargas hit the 15-day IL with a strained MCL (5–6 weeks), forcing lineup flexibility.

Chase Meidroth came up from AAA as coverage.

After the series, Jason Adam was optioned and Penn Murfee returned from the IL.

That’s a lot of moving pieces for a team that just banked three road wins — and it speaks to how steady the pitching backbone has been.

Bottom line

Chicago didn’t just win a series — they took control of it, won in multiple styles (late rally, early burst, shutout), and walked out still on top of the AL Central at 30-23. The finale stung, but it didn’t erase the bigger picture:

This team is playing like it expects to be here.