Sox escape losing 100 times

If you're a White Sox fan looking for a bright side, here are two:

First, the dreadful season finally ends after Sunday afternoon's game against the Royals at U.S. Cellular Field.

Second, the Sox are not going to lose 100 games.

They needed to win one of their final two against Kansas City to avoid reaching the dubious century milestone for the first time since 1970, and the White Sox (63-98) built a 4-0 lead over K.C. and hung on for a 6-5 win Saturday night at the Cell.

“People might make a big deal about 100, but it's not going to make me feel any better going into the off-season knowing the work that's got to go into next year,” said White Sox manager Robin Ventura.

The Sox came in ranked second-to-last in the American League with 143 home runs, one of the main reasons hitting coach Jeff Manto was fired before the game.

Marcus Semien, Jordan Danks, Adam Dunn and Conor Gillaspie hit solo homers to help the White Sox snap a four-game losing streak.

“Looking at last year, we hit a lot of home runs and at periods we won more games because we got runs faster,” Ventura said. “Tonight was one of those. There wasn't a whole lot of manufacturing to get runs. Last year we had it, this year we didn't as much.”

Rookie right-hander Erik Johnson was sharp early, holding the Royals without a hit until Mike Moustakas hit a solo home run with one out in the fifth inning.

Johnson (3-2) allowed another homer to Billy Butler in the sixth, but he won his third straight start.

“I thought overall it was a good experience and a great opportunity for me,” said Johnson, who came up from Class AAA Charlotte on Sept. 3. “My goal was to get here. But now my goal is to stay here.”