Three moments that stood out in the Royals' loss 

CHICAGO -- Michael Kopech looked out of sorts, as his first pitch Friday -- a 94 mph fastball to Bobby Witt Jr. -- sailed up and in. Kansas City's shortstop leaned back and his helmet fell off in the process.

Kopech missed badly on his next pitch, on another fastball out of the zone, but neither proved to be a sign of things to come from the White Sox starter. Kopech threw eight dominant innings and the Royals tallied one hit in a 2-0 loss to Chicago at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“After [the first pitch of the game], he had us off balance,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “It looked like he had good carry on the fastball. We just couldn't catch up to it.”

Kansas City’s bats had a quiet night, tallying one baserunner -- a Michael Massey single in the sixth -- while striking out 10 times. Kopech retired 23 of the 24 batters he faced.

Outside of the offense’s performance, let’s take a look at three key occurrences from the loss.

1. Zack Greinke’s heads-up play
Typically, when a ball is hit to the outfield and there is potential for a play at the plate, a pitcher will get behind the dish to back up their catcher. Greinke not only chose a different option Friday, but his heads-up move paid off for the Royals.

“Very unusual [play],” Quatraro said of the 7-1-4 out his starter pulled off in the second inning.

Greinke gave up four straight singles to start the second, the last off the bat of Jake Burger on a grounder into left field. It loaded the bases for the White Sox, but while Andrew Vaughn stopped at third base, Gavin Sheets -- the trailing runner -- took a wide turn around second.

Left fielder Nick Pratto made a strong throw back into the infield, where it was cut off by Greinke about halfway between third base and the plate. He fired a strike to Massey at second to throw out Sheets.

“I saw the ball go high and over [third baseman Hunter] Dozier’s head, and I was like, ‘Ah, man,’” Quatraro said. “Usually, that's a play where the catcher will come up and get it if he sees the guy off second. But Greinke was there. Unconventional, but it worked to our advantage.”

Despite those four base hits, Greinke limited the White Sox to two runs in the second -- and on the night. He tossed 5 2/3 innings, striking out four while walking none.

“I felt good. I think I made decent pitches to all those guys,” Greinke said of the second. “I guess I could be mistaken somewhere. Just overall, right, they did pretty good.”

2. Massey’s homecoming
It’s been documented that Massey is a Chicagoland native, growing up in suburban Palos Park, and in addition attended the University of Illinois in Champaign. And there may just be something to playing the team he grew up rooting for.

“It’s always in the back of my mind when we play them,” Massey said of the White Sox. “Just all the people from this area that kind of helped me be able to wear the uniform that I get to wear out there.”

Massey continues to make them proud when he faces his hometown team. Including Friday’s 1-for-3 showing, he’s tallied at least one hit in each of his 12 career games against the White Sox. He entered the day holding a .444/.512/.694 slash line against the South Siders.

Massey had family and friends in attendance Friday, along with high school and college friends.

“I always make sure -- not that I don't give effort on other days -- but I always make sure I turn it up a little bit,” Massey said of playing in Chicago. “Certainly aware of it. Yeah, there might be a little something there."

3. Salvador Perez’s helpful visit
Three days after the Royals called up Jackson Kowar up from Triple-A Omaha, they called on him for his season debut. And, when he replaced Greinke in the sixth on Friday, he may have been a little overamped.

“Probably a little bit, a little juiced,” Kowar said.

Kowar walked the first two hitters he faced, Vaughn and Sheets, on five pitches each. It prompted a mound visit from Perez, which helped get Kowar on track. He faced four more batters and retired them all, two on strikeouts.

“That little break Sal gave me was good,” Kowar said. “Just a little juiced. I’m happy I was able to get back into the zone and the rest of the way keep the pitch count down.”