Paul Konerko goes 0-for-3 in final MLB game as the 2014 club finishes its year in a familiar fashion
It wasn't the best way for the 2014 White Sox to wrap it up, but it was the most appropriate. This game featured such hallmarks as:
*Paul Konerko going hitless and nobody minding. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a groundout to third in his last plate appearance. He was removed at the start of the sixth inning for Andy Wilkins, and the curtain call was the last of several standing ovations he received throughout the day.
*The White Sox taking a lead into the sixth inning and watching the bullpen give it back immediately. Chris Bassitt exited with the Sox ahead 4-2 after a leadoff walk, and Daniel Webb couldn't strand it. He started with a strikeout, but the Royals tied it up with a single and a two-run double, and a two-out single put Kansas City ahead for good.
*The Sox threatening to tie it up in the seventh, only to see a rally foiled by a bad contact play and an interpretation of Rule 7.13 going against them. Avisail Garcia broke for home on Michael Taylor's squibber to first, and he slid into Erik Kratz's planted foot in front of home plate as Kratz applied the tag. Alas, the "out" call held up after review.
*Hell, they lost two reviews at the plate for that matter, as Josh Phegley was called out going for home on a chopper to the mound. Sal Perez was the catcher then, and he missed his first tag attempt as Phegley tried a hook slide, before slapping a second tag on him. Phegley thought he swiped the plate with his foot, but Ted Barrett was on top of the call, and a review didn't show Phegley's toe hitting the edge, at least not conclusively.
The game didn't matter anyway, at least after the Tigers beat the Twins to lock up the AL Central and seal the Royals to their wild card game-hosting fate. When the outcome was in question, the White Sox made Kansas City sweat. Bassitt gave up two early runs and was lucky to not allow more of them, but he eventually settled in with heavy usage of his curveball.
That allowed the Sox to climb back into it. Marcus Semien tied it up in the fourth with a two-run shot off Yordano Ventura, and the Sox added two more in the fifth with a Phegley RBI double and a bases-loaded walk from Semien. By the middle of the fifth, the Tigers had taken care of business, and so both teams started emptying their benches.
Bullet points:
*Adam Eaton went 3-for-3 to raise his average to .300, after which he was replaced by Moises Sierra.
*With the loss and a Cubs win, the Sox slipped in ahead of the North Siders in the 2015 draft order. Even though they finished with identical records, the Sox will pick eighth, and the Cubs will pick ninth, because the Sox had a worse record last season.
Record: 73-89 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights
from South Side Sox - All Posts
