David Robertson’s expression Sunday afternoon said it all and the camera caught every second of it.

In the span of a few seconds, the White Sox closer’s emotions went from disgust to disbelief to joy as Austin Jackson raced back to take at least a double away from Oswaldo Arcia with no outs in the ninth inning.

Similar to Jose Quintana earlier in the game, Robertson parlayed a big effort from Jackson into a scoreless inning as he closed out a 3-1 White Sox victory over the Minnesota Twins at U.S. Cellular Field. Robertson recorded his 10th save and the White Sox improved to 22-10. While you can point to many reasons why the White Sox already own a five-game lead in the American League Central, the team’s improved defense is certainly one of the biggest keys to its early success and Jackson is at the forefront.

“Austin covers a lot of ground and makes great reads,” Robertson said. “I couldn’t believe he got to that ball today.

“I was excited. It was a great catch. I didn’t think he was going to catch it. I wasn’t even sure if it was going to stay in the park.”

Jackson’s grab is only the latest installment in a season full of defensive highlights for the White Sox, particularly in the outfield. After they finished 26th of 30 in Defensive Runs Saved last season with minus-22, White Sox outfielders collectively entered Sunday atop the majors with 12.

Though much of the credit has been assigned to right fielder Adam Eaton, and rightfully so, you can’t overlook the contributions of Jackson, who signed a one-year deal with the club on March 6.

Defensive metrics aren’t as much of a fan of Jackson as they are Eaton. Eaton leads all players with 13 DRS while Jackson has produced minus-3, meaning three fewer runs than the average player at his position.

But what goes unaccounted for on a stat sheet is how Jackson has taken over as the captain of the outfield. Eaton said Jackson’s verbal skills and knowledge of hitters around the league has routinely had him in the correct spot, which allows him to just go out and play.

Jackson agreed that the back and forth between himself and Eaton has been a critical component.

“We’ve been doing a really good job of communicating out there,” Jackson said. “That’s the key to us being able to getting to a lot balls in the gap, cutting off balls, keeping guys at first base — just being able to talk to each other and make sure we’re on the same page and in the proper position when we’re out there.”

Back when Jackson signed, catcher Alex Avila said he’d never seen his former Detroit Tigers teammate dive to catch a ball because he sees it so well off the bat. Jackson displayed his technique in the first inning on Miguel Sano’s liner to center field as he raced over to catch it to the surprise of base runner Eddie Rosario, who had already rounded third base. Jackson easily fired the ball in for a double play.

“His defense is fantastic,” manager Robin Ventura said. “The play in the first inning and the play there in the last inning, it just solidifies everything in the outfield. He can cover a lot of ground, Adam can cover a lot of ground. It's important for us to play defense, but just the dynamic of all three of those guys out there, it's been great for us.

“He has great reads, great routes. I didn't think he was really going to get to the last one. Just a great route to get there and get your glove out.”

Robertson wasn’t the only one to celebrate the catch in center. According to MLB.com’s Statcast, Jackson raced 94 feet at 19.4 mph to rob Arcia of extra bases. His route efficiency was determined to be 96.0 percent.

Perhaps surprised himself, Jackson pounded his glove and later tipped his cap.

“It’s fun — I look at those guys and I see how pumped up they are and vice versa,” Jackson said. “We kind of feed off each other’s energy and like I said, that’s been a big key of what we’ve been able to be so good out there.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — They may be reeling from two awful losses, but Alex Avila expects he won’t see any let up from his White Sox teammates.

He’d better not.

Whereas they should be in position to close out a sweep of the Kansas City Royals on Sunday, the White Sox are trying to avoid one after consecutive stunning losses, including allowing seven runs in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday in an 8-7 loss.

Asked how they have to respond, the veteran catcher said his White Sox teammates have little choice — play hard or don’t bother showing up.

“The way you stop it is you come back tomorrow and make something happen,” Avila said. “They’re not going to feel bad for us. So you can’t feel sorry for yourself. It’s an extremely tough loss for sure. That’s a game we should have won. There’s been a few games we should have won. The way we’ve been playing have given a lot of people doubt.

“But guys in here, if they have any shred of doubt in their mind of what they can do, even though we’re struggling, don’t even come. No one’s going to feel sorry for you in this game. Even if you’re struggling, battle your ass off. There’s no room for feeling sorry for yourself and doubting your ability and your team’s ability. We’re going through a tough two-week stretch. The good thing is it’s right now at the end of May here. Try to finish these last few games in May strong and take it into June and see if we can make a better month out of it.”

The White Sox appeared to respond well to Friday’s game, one in which they blew a four-run lead, until the bullpen melted down for a second straight day. Even though none of their big run producers came through, the White Sox pulled ahead 7-1 on the strength of home runs by Tyler Saladino and Avisail Garcia.

But then the impossible happened and the Royals rallied to win a game in which their win probability was 0.1 percent after David Robertson struck out Paulo Orlando to start the ninth inning. Robertson only recorded one more out as he allowed six runs and Tommy Kahnle allowed another in an 8-7 loss.

“I’m not surprised or satisfied the way our team has responded to tough losses,” Avila said. “I expect it. No matter what the situation was the game before, I expect each guy in here to be prepared the very next day. If they’re not, then there’s an issue. Guys have been coming to play every single day and doing their homework and getting prepared for each game. If they weren’t, it’d be an issue. But guys have been doing that and we’re kind of going through one of those spells where instead of finding ways to win, we’re finding ways to lose games. Most teams will go through it or have gone through it. I know the first month we were playing great and the Royals weren’t playing well, the Tigers weren’t playing well and Cleveland wasn’t playing well. It was like, ‘Well, we’re going to run away with it,’ and flipped the script. Things can change pretty quickly over the course of a week or two weeks, even a month. That’s my point on why you have to come and make sure you’re prepared — that doubt in your mind about the day before is gone and you have to be ready no matter what because nobody is going to feel sorry for you.”

The White Sox take on the Kansas City Royals on Sunday, and you can catch all the action on Comcast SportsNet. Coverage begins with White Sox Pregame Live at 12:30 p.m. Be sure to stick around after the final out to get analysis and player reaction on White Sox Postgame Live.

Sunday’s starting pitching matchup: Chris Sale vs. Edison Volquez

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- What an implosion.

A day after they inexplicably gave away one contest, the White Sox outdid themselves on Saturday afternoon.

Instead of evening the series with a decisive victory, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle allowed the Kansas City Royals to rally for seven ninth-inning runs to send the White Sox to a stunning 8-7 loss in front of 31,598 at Kauffman Stadium. Brett Eibner’s bases-loaded RBI single off Kahnle capped an improbable comeback and delivered another crushing blow to the White Sox, who have lost five straight and 13 of their last 17 contests.

“This is a tough one, no matter how you look at it,” third baseman Todd Frazier said. “You saw what happened. You can go back and think about it, game we should have won and didn’t win.”

“We’re all professionals and we’ve seen crazy things in baseball. This is one of them.”

Saturday’s loss ranks as one of the craziest in club history. The White Sox went from a state of joy, cruising toward a pivotal victory, to disarray in a span of 51 pitches.

Leading 7-1, Robertson took over and struck out Paulo Orlando.

Cheslor Cuthbert then singled and Eibner doubled to deep right when Adam Eaton lost the ball in the sun. Robertson walked Omar Infante and Alcides Escobar consecutively to force in a run, which prompted a visit from White Sox manager Robin Ventura.

Whit Merrifield’s grounder then deflected off the glove of Robertson and a potential double play turned into a two-run single and made it a 7-4 contest.

“The worst part about it was looking back and seeing Brett (Lawrie) was right there,” Robertson said. “If I had let it go, I would have got us out of the inning. It’s frustrating when you make a mistake like that.”

Lorenzo Cain’s hustle kept the inning alive as he narrowly beat out a game-ending double play to drive in another run. Eric Hosmer followed with an RBI double to right-center field to make it a 7-6 game and end Robertson’s day.

“It’s a terrible performance on my part,” Robertson said. “Can’t say much else about it.

“It doesn’t matter what the score is, I still have to get three outs. I let the whole team down.”

Drew Butera lifted his team’s spirits. The backup catcher entered in the ninth inning after an apparent knee injury knocked Salvador Perez out of the game. Already on tilt, the Kauffman crowd erupted when Butera ripped a 99-mph fastball from Kahnle for a game-tying double.

The White Sox opted to intentionally walk Orlando. But it didn’t prevent Kahnle from allowing Butera to advance to third as he uncorked a wild pitch. Kahnle also intentionally walked Jarrod Dyson to load the bases for Eibner, who ended a 10-pitch at-bat with the game-winning single under the glove of Sox first baseman Jose Abreu.

“The way games have been going, you go to the guy to close it out, because we haven’t been able to get to him,” Ventura said. “There’s no shot clock. There’s no time clock. If you can’t close it out, that’s what happens. And today we couldn’t close it out.”

The White Sox entered the ninth inning without a care in the world. They had bounced back definitively from Friday’s stunner, when the bullpen surrendered a four-run lead over the final three innings.

An opposite-field approach against Kansas City starter Yordano Ventura took hold with two outs in the fourth inning. Brett Lawrie, Alex Avila and Avisail Garcia all had opposite-field singles, Garcia’s providing the White Sox a 1-0 lead. Tyler Saladino then crushed a hanging 0-2 slider from Ventura for a three-run homer to left field and a four-run lead.

The White Sox offense continued to add on against Ventura. Avila doubled with one out in the fourth inning and Garcia hammered a 2-1 changeup for a two-run shot. Garcia’s homer, his fifth, traveled 428 feet at an exit velocity of 113 mph and gave the White Sox a 6-1 advantage.

They added another run in the fifth as Austin Jackson singled, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error by Omar Infante.

And then the Royals happened again.

“They have mojo over there right now,” Avila said. “They just keep coming at you and taking advantage of the fact that we’re scuffling a little bit right now.”

The devastating loss was the third in 18 days in which the White Sox bullpen surrendered a significant lead. The unit, which has a 4.73 ERA this month, also blew a five-run lead in a 13-11 loss at the Texas Rangers on May 10. Along with a blown four-run lead on Friday, the White Sox nearly surrendered a four-run advantage in the opening game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians on Monday.

“It might have a lasting effect,” Frazier said. “There are going to be some guys who are in here who tonight aren’t going to be real happy. Once you get in here and know we start over again, I’ve learned from the best that you start all over like nothing happened and go about your business.”