Kansas City, Mo. ? In all likelihood there will be no postseason for the defending champion Kansas City Royals this year.

Chris Sale pitched his American League-leading sixth complete-game to pick up his 16th win, Carlos Sanchez hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Royals 7-4 Friday night.

Kansas City has lost five straight and are 1-9 in their past 10 home games, so they will need a miracle to return to the playoffs after winning the past two American League championships.

“Everybody in here is frustrated,” said Royals starter Ian Kennedy, who left with a 4-2 lead after six innings. “You just don’t expect to lose five in a row at home. It doesn’t matter who it is, who we’re playing. We play great at home and now we haven’t done that.”

The bullpen, however, could not maintain the lead.

“It’s been a tough go for our bullpen the last week,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Sanchez had struck out in his first three at-bats before hitting a pitch from Kelvin Herrera out to right with J.D. Shuck and Avisail Garcia aboard. It was Sanchez’s first home run since last Sept. 21 at Detroit.

“I wanted it up and in, but it was obviously in the middle,” Herrera said of Sanchez’s home run.

Todd Frazier doubled with one out and scored on Alex Avila’s single for the first run of the inning.

Sale (16-8), 1-6 in his previous 11 starts, limited the Royals to four runs, three earned, while striking out 10 and walking one.

Herrera (2-5) blew his third save in 14 chances.

“I had trouble with my release point,” Herrera said. “It was a little off. I felt a little off with my command for some reason. This is a tough league.”

Kennedy, who held the White Sox to one hit over six innings Sunday to beat Sale in a 2-0 win, threw 74 pitches in the first three innings, but made it through six, allowing two runs, five hits, three walks and a sacrifice fly. He retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.

“I had to talk my way into going out for the sixth inning just because the bullpen had been so taxed the last couple of days,” Kennedy said. “I wanted to stay in at least one more inning. It was a grind.”

Kennedy walked the bases loaded with none out in the second, but escaped by allowing just one run, with Frazier scoring on Leury Garcia’s grounder.

Sale retired the first 13 batters he faced before giving up seven hits and four runs to the next 10 batters.

Salvador Perez’s single with one out in the fifth was the Royals’ first hit. Cheslor Cuthbert’s double moved Perez to third. Hunter Dozier, who was making his first major league start, had an infield single, scoring Perez, and Cuthbert raced home on shortstop Tyler Saladino’s throwing error, to tie the score at 2.

Billy Burns opened the Royals sixth with a bunt single and scored when Whit Merrifield drilled a triple to left-center. Kendrys Morales singled home Merrifield.

Jose Abreu, who singled in his first two at-bats for his 12th multi-hit game in his past 18 games, scored in the third on Frazier’s sacrifice fly.

Melky Cabrera homered in the ninth off Peter Moylan, while Saladino had three of the White Sox 11 hits.