September 20: Royals 2, White Sox 1
If Jermaine Dye ever had an occasion to break out of his slump with style, it was with the bases loaded against Joakim Soria in the eighth inning.
Soria loaded the bases with a walk to Alexei Ramirez, bringing Dye and his 4-for-35 slump to the plate.
It ended with a medium-range flyout to right. So much for redemption.
The game ended in equally disheartening fashion, with pinch-running Dewayne Wise gunned down at second on an unsuccessful stolen base attempt. You could see the strategy in it — Scott Podsednik isn’t likely to drive anybody in from first, and Gordon Beckham’s slumping pretty badly himself.
But that didn’t work either. Not much did against Robinson Tejeda and the Kansas City pitching staff today, outside of Scott Podsednik and A.J. Pierzynski. They combined for four of the team’s six hits, and Pierzynski drove in Podsednik (after Pods stole his 28th base) for the lone run of the game.
Carlos Quentin had a chance with the bases loaded following that series of events, but he faltered as well. The Sox stranded eight on the day.
It wasted a terrific effort by Freddy Garcia, who allowed a single run in the first (wild pitch) and third (RBI single) innings and nothing after. He finished his day by retiring the last nine he faced.
Record: 73-77 | Box score | Play-by-play
