KANSAS CITY — As an incredibly disappointing season continues to wind down, things only seem to get more painful for the White Sox.

Tuesday was once again proof of that, as the club found a way to lose a game they had a great chance to win at Kauffman Stadium.

Up 6-0 early in the contest and still leading by one run in the ninth, reliever Gregory Santos surrendered a game-tying double to Bobby Witt Jr. before a most bizarre ending to the game.

With the bases loaded and Edward Olivares at the plate, Santos was called for a balk on the first pitch, allowing the winning run to come to the plate in a 7-6 Royals victory. It’s the second time that Kansas City has won on a walk-off balk this season and adds to more misery for the White Sox in the second half of the season.

It’s the fifth-straight loss for Pedro Grifol’s team and the seventh in their last eight games as they fall to 15-32 in the second half of the season. They’re now 53-86 on the season, trending toward 100 losses just two years removed from winning 93 games and the American League Central division title.

It looked like Tuesday would be a streak-breaker for the White Sox after a fast start that included a five-run second inning, which was aided by a three-run homer by catcher Korey Lee. But the Royals chipped away at the lead against Dylan Cease, getting four runs against him and 5 1/3 innings and then getting another run charged to the starter off Bryan Shaw in the sixth.

It would stay that way till the ninth, when the White Sox found another bizarre way to lose a game in 2023.