White Sox take fourth straight series, downing Royals 5-3

Posted May 29, 2009 11:00 pm

By Tom Quinlan Daily Herald Staff

It was throwback night in Kansas City with the Royals and the White Sox wearing classic uniforms from the old Negro League days.

And with veteran pitchers Mark Buehrle and Gil Meche both in control with their off-speed pitches, the game appeared headed toward a classic pitchers duel with each team struggling to come up with big hits to break open the game.

But the White Sox, who looked a bit odd in their navy-blue pinstripe uniforms paying tribute to the 1926 Chicago American Giants, found an odd way to win the game before a full house Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Despite the traditional garb, the Sox broke from tradition and put together back-to-back infield hits that led to a pair of ninth-inning runs to claim a 5-3 victory and take their fourth straight series.

"We're doing a lot of good things," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters. "We ran the bases hard, going first to third. That's the baseball you've been watching the last couple of weeks. We're pushing every time we get on base; we try to get something done."

After Buehrle gave up a solo homer to Miguel Olivo leading off the eighth, Guillen went back to tradition and brought in Scott Linebrink, who used 6 pitches to quiet the Royals' rally en route to picking up the win (2-2).

Guillen then turned to ballgame over in the ninth to closer Bobby Jenks, who looked like he was in 2005 form as he mixed 98-mph fastballs with knee-buckling curveballs to shut down Kansas City for his 11th save.

Buehrle pitched well enough to get the win, but he gave up 2 big triples on off-speed pitches early in the game, and that solo homer in the eighth kept him from getting his 20th career win against the Royals.

Although the Sox stranded 14 runners, they broke through in the ninth after a Chris Getz single and a Josh Fields walk off Juan Cruz (3-1).

Podsednik then drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single. Ramirez followed by rolling a bunt up the first-base line, but reliever John Bale's toss to second baseman Alberto Callaspo covering the bag was grabbed by first baseman Billy Butler even though he was several feet off the bag.

Ramirez was safe, and Jim Thome's infield out drove in the final run, sending the Royals to their 15th loss in 20 games.

"We were playing bad and it was only a matter of time when we turned it around and started playing better," Buehrle said.

Tom Quinlan's Sox tracker A few surprises: As odd as the Sox looked in those navy-blue uniforms, it also must have felt strange playing before 37,984 in Kansas City. When was the last time that happened with these two clubs? The reburbished stadium and young talent are filling the seats. At the plate: Alexei Ramirez may have been trying to sacrifice in the ninth, but his bunt single gave him 3 hits on the day. Jim Thome just missed a home run, but he did drive in 2 runs. Not so fast: While the Sox have a shot at another sweep, it won't be easy against Zack Greinke, who is 8-1 with a 0.84 ERA. He shut out the Sox 3-0 on April 25 in a game that lasted only 2 hours and 19 minutes. Castro connection: New backup catched Ramon Castro, who was obtained from the Mets, has a history with Ozzie Guillen. They were both on the Marlins in 2002. He has a .256 lifetime average against lefthanders.