KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s only mid-May, and every game feels crucial. Every loss cuts deeper.

It’s not supposed to be like this during the marathon nature of a 162-game season, but such is life for the team that opens with a dreadful 13-25 record.

“We dug ourselves a hole,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol has said over and again during a recent mini-revival that saw his team win six of 10 games and provide glimmers of guarded optimism.

They Sox dug their ditch along the dusty AL Central trail just a little deeper Wednesday with a 9-1 loss to a team that’s even worse than they are but closing in, dropping the third game of a four-game series Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium. Lance Lynn (1-5) gave up four runs on six hits in the first inning, setting the tone.

Now the Sox need a win Thursday afternoon to split a four-game series with Kansas City (11-27). And to think winning the series, or even sweeping it, was considered going in.

With the Sox, it’s not unlike postseason play, where the narrative is almost always gloom and doom after a loss, especially when Opening Day starter Dylan Cease and team leader Lynn give up a combined 14 runs on 18 hits in five-inning starts against the Royals in a span of three days.

It’s easy to see why.

Win, and former manager and current pre- and postgame TV host Ozzie Guillen, who knows the Sox well, is saying on the air that the Sox can still win the division as he did after Tuesday’s win evened the series.

So it goes in a weak AL Central Division, where the Sox trailed the first-place Twins by 6 ¹⁄₂ games and are making preparations for the returns of Yoan Moncada on Friday in Chicago and closer Liam Hendriks and lefty reliever Garrett Crochet on Tuesday. Hendriks, who beat cancer, pitched a scoreless inning in his minor league rehab assignment Wednesday and Crochet was good, too. Moncada is hitting .571 at his rehab stint.

Hendriks will undoubtedly provide a boost in more ways than one.

“Once he’s back in Chicago, it’s going to be special,” said outfielder Jake Marisnick, who was called up from Charlotte Wednesday. “I know he’s really excited about it. He’s like a kid again, just so happy. With everything he’s been through, he deserves it.”

Hendriks is slated to pitch Thursday for the fourth time and his first back-to-back test. He’ll get two days rest, pitch for Charlotte Sunday and if all goes to plan, be activated Tuesday. Crochet could come with him.

Grifol said Hendriks’ first game in Chicago will be “inspirational.”

But there was nothing inspiring about the Sox’ latest performance. Lynn faced 10 batters in the first, allowing four runs on six hits and finished with seven runs on nine hits including two homers allowed in five innings.

It didn’t help that second baseman couldn’t glove a pop fly near the right field foul line in the first, or that hard-charging but slow-footed right fielder Gavin Sheets couldn’t get there before Andrus. The Sox’ weaknesses don’t avoid being exposed for long.

Speaking of weaknesses, Lynn’s 7.51 ERA is the worst among qualified AL starters. And Cease (5.58) had a similar line against the Royals Monday, giving up seven runs on nine hits in five innings.

The Sox were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, 1-for-6 in the first two innings against Brad Keller. Luis Robert’s eight-game hitting streak was abruptly halted with four strikeouts in four plate appearances.