Massey leaves Chicago with a homer … and an engagement 

CHICAGO -- Each road trip to the Windy City figures to be eventful for Royals second baseman and Chicagoland native Michael Massey. But this weekend takes the cake for the most special yet.

Massey -- a Palos Park, Ill., native -- returned to his old stomping grounds for the Royals’ series on the South Side this weekend. Not only did he commemorate it with a few big moments on the field, but a major one off it.

On Saturday, the 25-year-old Massey got engaged to his girlfriend, Jane. And on Sunday, with family and friends in attendance at Guaranteed Rate Field, he hit a two-run home run that gave the Royals an early lead, in an eventual 5-2 loss to the White Sox.

“Obviously, personally, getting engaged and seeing so many family members this weekend,” Massey said. “[Saturday] night was super cool. So yeah, it's probably the most special one.”

Massey said he was considering a few different dates to propose, weighing the trip to Chicago versus other options in his mind. He and Jane are high school sweethearts who went to different schools in the area.

“I got the ring a couple weeks ago, and it just felt right,” Massey said. “It was cool to do it with family.”

His family was at the ballpark Sunday, sitting behind the Royals dugout -- giving them a great view of his big swing in the second inning. After Edward Olivares reached on a single, Massey stepped to the plate to face starter Lance Lynn.

Massey took a healthy hack at a 2-1 cutter from Lynn, fouling it straight back, and laid off a 93 mph four-seam fastball away to run the count full. Lynn came back with another cutter, and Massey crushed it 405 feet over the right field fence. The two-run shot had a 107.4 mph exit velocity.

The Royals had a few good-natured moments with Massey to celebrate the engagement and homer. After Massey rounded the bases and got back into the dugout, first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino grabbed Massey’s right wrist and tapped his ring finger.

Infield coach José Alguacil also had a proposition for Massey after that first-plate-appearance homer.

“Aggy, our infield coach told me, ‘If you hit three today, you’re getting married tomorrow,'” Massey said with a chuckle. “We were on pace after the first one. It was cool.”

Massey, who also broke up Michael Kopech’s perfect game bid on Friday, continues to post impressive performances against the White Sox. He entered Sunday hitting .405/.468/.619 (17-for-42) with two homers and seven RBIs in 13 games against the South Siders.

Massey, who grew up a White Sox fan, acknowledged Friday there may be something about playing them that helps him to turn things up a bit. All three of his homers this season are against Chicago; he’s hit seven home runs total in his career.

“Whether it’s the White Sox or the Twins or the Yankees, you’ve got to come in and try to do your job,” Massey said. “I think it's more a coincidence that I play them. And honestly, I'm so young in my career that we've played them probably more than any other team. So, I think it's a coincidence more than anything.”

While Massey’s homer gave the Royals an early 2-0 lead Sunday, it didn’t stick. They were shut out over the final seven innings, tallying just two hits after that long ball, as Chicago finished off the three-game sweep.

It wrapped up an uneven 2-7 road trip for Kansas City. After being swept by the Brewers in Milwaukee last weekend, the Royals took two of three from the Padres, a team that is expected to compete for a playoff spot this season. But six of those losses came by three runs or less.

The Royals have already matched the seven wins they recorded in a rough April this month, but they know there’s plenty of work to do.

“I think it's just [the] ups and downs of the season,” Massey said. “You look at a lot of these games, and it's a couple plays here and there. It’s not like we're getting blown out of games. We're not out of games. It's just we're not coming up in the right situations.

“But I think overall, if you look at our play, I think there's certainly been improvement from last month to this month. We're going to look to close the month strong and obviously make improvements in June as well.”