White Sox' bats silent again in second consecutive shutout loss to Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — White Sox hitters were seeing double Saturday, as they were shut out by the Royals 2-0 for the second consecutive game. They have gone 20 innings without scoring and a week without hitting a home run.

The hitting drought wasted another solid performance from right-hander Erick Fedde, who allowed a solo homer to Maikel Garcia on his first pitch but yielded only two other hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked one.

The Sox mustered four hits — including doubles by Andrew Benintendi and Lenyn Sosa, as well as rookie infielder Tanner Murray’s first career hit — but couldn’t do anything with them. Royals right-hander Michael Wacha breezed through eight innings, striking out seven.

The Royals added an insurance run when Garcia led off the eighth with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly.

After some first-week fireworks, the Sox have scored only eight runs in their last six games and their hitters haven’t gone deep since Munetaka Murakami did so April 4 against the Blue Jays. Sox hitters have fanned 60 times since then.

‘‘A lot of times when you are not getting hits, it feels like you have no energy,’’ manager Will Venable said. ‘‘That hasn’t been the case for us. I think the guys are in a good frame of mind. We just have to turn some fastballs around, put some balls in play.’’

Cannon gets call after Davitt’s first draft

Sportswriter-turned-MLB pitcher Duncan Davitt, who made his big-league debut in the eighth inning of the Sox’ loss Friday, was sent back to Triple-A Charlotte in exchange for right-hander Jonathan Cannon, who is expected to pitch in a bulk role Sunday behind opener Grant Taylor.

Outfielder Everson Pereira was en route to Charlotte, as well, for a rehab stint in his recovery from a sprained ankle.

Davitt, who moonlights as a high school sports reporter for a newspaper in Iowa owned by his parents, walked the first batter he faced, then induced a double-play ball from Garcia — an All-Star last season — and a flyout from superstar Bobby Witt Jr.

‘‘There’s something to be said about being forged in fire, so if you go through those two guys and manage to come out unscathed, it’s a nice learning experience and an, ‘OK, I can do this,’ kind of a moment,’’ Davitt said.

Davitt grew up a Yankees fan but regularly made the three-hour trip from the Des Moines area for games at Kauffman Stadium, where he had plenty of family and friends in attendance for his first outing.

‘‘I’m not going to lie, I tried to keep my eyes from going up into the stands, just because it’s a lot bigger venue than most of the places down in the minor leagues,’’ Davitt said. ‘‘But the eyes went up anyway. Sitting in the dugout afterward . . . seeing the fireworks, it’s a feeling unmatched. You can’t get anything better.’’

He wrote a column for the Indianola Independent Advocate that was published online after his call-up Thursday, but it’ll be awhile before he’s back in print.

‘‘I think ‘missed deadline’ is a good way to put it,’’ Davitt said. ‘‘I’m sure there’s something coming down eventually.’’