August 18: Royals 5, White Sox 4
Gil Meche had nothing. The Kansas City defense didn’t sparkle. But he had enough to beat the White Sox thanks to some characteristically bad baserunning.
Alexei Ramirez popped up with one out in the second inning, and Alberto Callaspo parked under it to make the catch. He didn’t, but Ramirez absentmindedly rounded first at a medium pace right in front of the error. He’s eventually tagged out, and the Sox go to load the bases behind him with two outs. No runs score.
In the fifth, Ramirez once again hit a fly to the right side with runners on the corners and nobody out. This one was a little further, but right fielder Willie Bloomquist was running towards the plate when making the catch. Carlos Quentin tested Bloomquist, and he was out by 10 feet. No runs score.
With the Sox trailing 5-4, it seemed like the Sox still had a great chance to pull this one out, but Royal relievers held the Sox hitless the rest of the way. Robinson Tejeda struck out five Sox over three innings, and Joakim Soria retired them 1-2-3 for the save.
Freddy Garcia took the loss in his return to the South Side, giving up a 4-1 lead. Paul Konerko busted out of an 0-for-23 slump with a single that set up an A.J. Pierzynski RBI single, and then adding a solo shot to right-center. Carlos Quentin followed with his first homer since Aug. 4.
But hanging breaking balls spelled Garcia’s demise. One turned into a John Buck two-shot to cut the lead to 4-3. Billy Butler roped another one for a game-tying double in the left-center gap. Randy Williams came in and gave up an RBI single to Alberto Callaspo, but the Sox bulllpen held the Royals in check after that. Unfortunately, the Kansas City ‘pen happened to be a little bit better.
Record: 61-59 | Box score | Play-by-play
