Royals blanked for 10th loss in a row

CHICAGO -- Javier Vazquez watched the ball roll down the third base line, his bid for a no-hitter riding on where it ended up. White Sox third baseman Joe Crede had no play, either. He was too far back.

As they both looked on helplessly yesterday, Doug Mientkiewicz's slow roller off a checked swing didn't stray into foul territory. Instead, the ball seemed to have a mind of its own and stayed fair. And after 6 1/3 innings, Vazquez's chance to pitch a no-hitter was over.

''I mean, what can you do?" Vazquez said. ''It kind of stinks that was the first hit . . . That's part of the game."

Vazquez pitched into the ninth, allowing just two hits, and Chicago beat Kansas City, 4-0, the reeling Royals' 10th straight defeat.

''I was positioned way off the line and back with Mientkiewicz up there," Crede said. ''I tried to dig a ditch to get the ball to go foul, but it didn't work. It's just something where any time you see a ball like that or a bunt down the line, you know it's going to stay fair because there's kind of a lip on the line right there."

The Royals, who had a 19-game losing streak late last season, managed one run and 11 hits in the three-game series. Kansas City's 2-12 start is its second worst behind 1992, when the Royals lost 16 of their first 17, and Royals starting pitchers are 0-9 this season.

Mientkiewicz said the pitch was running in on him.

''A hit is a hit," he said. ''It was a slider, and I'm definitely not going to apologize for a base hit."

After the hit, Vazquez got an ovation from the crowd of 26,327.

He got an even louder one in the ninth after he gave up a leadoff single to Esteban German and was replaced by Neal Cotts, who immediately gave up another single, to pinch itter John Buck. Bobby Jenks got two outs for his sixth save, sealing Chicago's ninth win in 10 games.

Vazquez (1-1) struck out seven and walked one. Vazquez pitched a one-hitter in 1999 for Montreal against the Dodgers, and the only hit he surrendered that game was in the fourth to Mark Grudzielanek, now with the Royals.

Kansas City starter Scott Elarton (0-4) gave up four runs -- three earned -- five hits and five walks in 4 1/3 innings. He walked three in the first and threw a run-scoring wild pitch, and Juan Uribe hit his first pitch in the fifth for his first homer and a 2-0 lead.

Elarton hit Jermaine Dye with a pitch later in the inning, forcing in a run, and Chicago soon added its fourth run on a passed ball.