By MATT PIKE
The Kansas City Royals didn't produce much offense on Saturday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. But the way Michael Wacha has been pitching thus far this season, not much offense would be needed to defeat the Chicago White Sox and take a series lead.
Wacha threw eight shutout innings, walking one and striking out seven while giving up four hits, on way to a 2-0 Royals win over the White Sox. Lucas Erceg closed the door in the ninth, striking out one, for his fifth save. With the win, Wacha improved to 2-0 on the season, and lowered his ERA to an MLB-best 0.43. He's given up just 10 hits and five walks over the first 21 innings to begin his season, while striking out 17 batters. Wacha has logged a quality start in all three outings this year.
Both teams had just four hits on the day. The first hit of the game for Kansas City got the the Royals on the board in the bottom of the first inning, on the first pitch of the game, with Maikel Garcia hitting a home run to left center field off Chicago starter Erick Fedde. The Royals didn't add their second run until the eighth inning, the run coming courtesy of Garcia again, as Garcia scored on a sacrifice fly by Vinnie Pasquantino for the 2-0 lead.
At the plate, Garcia led the way going 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, and an RBI. Salvador Perez and Massey had the only other hits of the game for Kansas City, going 1-for-4 and 1-for-2, respectively.
Kansas City and Chicago wrap up their four game series tomorrow. Noah Cameron (1-0, 1.69 ERA, 10K's) takes the mound for the Royals against Grant Taylor (0-0, 1.42 ERA, 8K's) for the White Sox. First pitch is at 1:10pm, pregame will begin at 12:30 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.