Fields, Getz and Richard set table for Sox' victory
Before Jim Thome won it with a long ball for the White Sox on Tuesday, it was some well-executed small ball that set the table.
Thome's 3-run homer in the eighth, which gave the Sox a 4-2 opening-day win over the Kansas City Royals at U.S.Cellular Field, came after Josh Fields bunted for a single to start the inning and went to third one out later on Chris Getz's hit-and-run single.
It was a memorable Opening Day for Fields and Getz, who each had 2 hits, scored a run and made sharp defensive plays in the field.
"They were both a big part of this today," veteran teammate A.J. Pierzynski said.
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen lumped reliever Clayton Richard into the mix of impressive performances by youngsters.
Richard took over for starter Mark Buehrle in the sixth, with the Sox trailing 2-1, and worked two perfect innings.
"Josh Fields' bunt in the eighth inning opened the door for a good inning," Guillen said.
"A lot of people will be talking about Jimmy's home run, obviously, because that's a big one for us. But if you look at the play Fields made at third base, and the hit-and-run by Getz, and Clayton Richard throwing the ball like he did. To me, that was the biggest piece of the game, when Richard went out and shut it down for a couple innings and gave us an opportunity to keep competing in the game.
"A lot of little things happened during the game to help us to win," said Guillen. "If you put those things together, plus the big boys coming to hit, that's how we have to play all year long."
Fields, who drove in the first run with a bases-loaded single in the second, helped prevent a bigger inning for the Royals in the fifth than the 1 run they got.
With the bases loaded and nobody out, Fields grabbed Billy Butler's bouncer behind third and made a leaping throw to the plate to force Mark Teahan.
Fields knows he is going to be compared regularly to Joe Crede, but the play on Butler was certainly Crede-like.
"I know what's coming," Fields said. "I know that I'm going to get compared to Joe pretty much all season. It comes with the territory. I just have to go out and do what I have to do. I can make good plays, too."
Fields says he can also bunt, which he proved by laying down the single off Kyle Farnsworth to start the eighth.
"Bunting is a thing I can do that a lot of people don't know I can do," Fields said. "When a guy's throwing hard like him, and he's tough on right-handers, it's nice to be able to sneak one in right there to get something going. I think I gave myself more of a chance by bunting to get on right there than by swinging."
Fields then easily made it to third when Getz dropped his hit into shallow right field.
"Fields made a great base-running play," Getz said. "A lot of guys would have held up. You couldn't ask for anything more than to come from behind and win a game like this."