Sox salvage split in late doubleheader at K.C.

Posted August 20, 2010 11:00 pm

Scot Gregor

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Twins fell to the Angels Saturday, just their second loss in the last nine games.

The White Sox took notice, to an extent.

"Of course," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "When you're in the pennant race you watch. But I always say to worry about one thing and that's your team. Because if you worry about another team, that's two problems. I always wake up and say Minnesota is going to win today. Why? My mind is ready for that.

"Minnesota might win today but it's more important that the White Sox win today. That's more important. It doesn't matter if they win or lose. If we don't win, we don't get anywhere."

With a golden opportunity to pick up some big ground on the Twins on Saturday night, the Sox played a late doubleheader against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

They lost Game 1, 6-5 in 11 innings. In Game 2, J.J. Putz couldn't hold a 6-5 lead with two outs in the ninth. Mitch Maier tripled and socred on Yuiniskey Betancourt's single to force extra innings again.

But Juan Pierre came through with a two-out double in the 10th to score Gordon Beckham, and the Sox salvaged a split with a 7-6 win.

"Very good," Guillen said after a long night of baseball. "The way we lost the first game was painful. The second one was outstanding, even though we did a lot to lose."

The game ended at 1:11 a.m. Central time, and the two teams meet again this afternoon for a 1:10 p.m. start.

Leading 5-1 in the opener behind a solid effort from starting pitcher Freddy Garcia, Betancourt stunned the White Sox with a grand slam off Sergio Santos in the seventh inning to tie it.

And with the score still tied at 5-5 in the 11th inning and runners on second and third with two outs, Betancourt struck again. His single up the middle off Bobby Jenks scored Wilson Betemit to complete the improbable rally, lifting the Royals to a 6-5 win.

Relief pitcher Tony Pena started Game 2 for the Sox.

Expected to go only 3 or 4 innings in his first major-league start, Pena sucked it up and went 7 while throwing 91 pitches and allowing 4 runs on 5 hits.

"Wow," Guillen said. "He saved this team for a long time. He went out there and pitched very well when we most needed him."

The Sox took a 6-4 lead in the nightcap on Ramon Castro's 2-run homer and Alex Rios' RBI single.

Game 2 didn't get started until 10:05 p.m. and was briefly delayed in the fourth inning when a few banks of lights went dark.

The White Sox weren't at all thrilled with playing such a late doubleheader, but at least they were able to get right back to work after squandering Game 1.

"It seems like our heart has been broken the past couple weeks, losing games late," Guillen said. "Sometimes that's not easy to take. But we've got a job to do. We'll run these guys back out there. They don't have any choice. If they feel sorry about themselves, they're not going to do anything about it. This game is over with. It's a very, very tough game, but we got to get ready for the second game."

With the pitching staff short-handed, Garcia went out and gave the Sox 62/3 innings in the opener.

The veteran right-hander exited after loading the bases with two outs in the seventh, and Betancourt greeted Santos with his third grand slam of the season.

Garcia declined to talk to reporters after the game.

"It seems like our bullpen doesn't like Freddy," Guillen said. "He's pitching well ... and all of a sudden we blow the game for him. It's a very, very tough game. I think Freddy was cruising.

"It's like having an uppercut almost in the last round, and we couldn't recover from that."

A 3-run sixth inning in Game 1 put the Sox in front 5-1, but they managed just 3 hits the rest of the way.

In the 10th, pinch-runner Brent Lillibridge was thrown out at home on Carlos Quentin's double. Lillibridge slowed up rounding second base and the lapse proved to be costly.

"I think he just got caught," Guillen said. "He didn't know where ball was."

Royals 6, White Sox 5 (11)

Wrecking crew: Kansas City's Yuniskey Betancourt hit a grand slam in the seventh inning, and his RBI single up the middle decided the outcome in the 11th. The 5 RBI matched Betancourt's career high.

Still streaking: Juan Pierre had hits in both games of the doubleheader, extending his streak to 10 games.

Changing roles: After 285 straight relief appearances, Sox right-hander Tony Pena made his first major-league start in the nightcap, which the Royals led 4-3 after 5 innings at press time.

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