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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- The Chicago White Sox got to take some bows
Sunday.
With the playoffs locked up, White Sox manager Jerry Manuel used
the regular-season finale, a 6-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals, to
showcase his regulars.
With Kansas City on the way to victory after a five-run second,
Manuel began pulling those starters in the sixth, letting them come
off the field in the middle of the inning so they could be cheered
by a crowd of 30,071.
"I never want to come out of a game, but it was a nice
moment," Chicago's Paul Konerko said. "I didn't expect it, but
after I saw the first wave of guys do it, I knew it would happen."
The White Sox, whose 95-67 record was the best in the American
League, open their first postseason appearance since 1993 at home
against Seattle on Tuesday, with Game 2 the following day.
Sunday was a day to end one season before moving on to the next.
"I thought it was a professional gesture. It was a nice
salute," Royals manager Tony Muser said of Manuel's substitutions.
Kansas City, meanwhile, improved from 64-97 to 77-85.
"We're 13 better than last year and I think we made
improvement," Muser added. "We played aggressive. It's a long
season and a tough season. I appreciate them staying with the
plan."
The Royals built their lead after pounding James Baldwin for
five runs in the second, capped by Mike Sweeney's 29th homer. He
finished with 144 RBI, one behind Seattle's Edgar Martinez, who
led the AL.
Baldwin (14-7), who took two weeks off with a sore shoulder
before making a relief appearance last week, made his first start
since Sept. 8 and it was a rocky one, lasting just three innings.
"Honestly, I felt good. I just overthrew a little bit," said
Baldwin, still under consideration for the playoff roster. "It's
not my decision. It's what you live for. Whatever they decide."
Baldwin walked the first two batters and then hit Jermaine Dye,
loading the bases in the first before he escaped.
But in the second, the Royals reached him for four hits. He
balked home a run and Sweeney hit a two-run homer off the
left-field foul pole for a 5-0 lead.
"It's a little emotional and tough to say goodbye," Sweeney
said of the Royals' final game. "The way things are in baseball,
we may never be together again."
Dye had an RBI double to make it 6-0 in the fourth. Chicago
scored on Konerko's fourth-inning sacrifice fly and Charles
Johnson's 31st homer in the fifth off Chris Fussell (5-3).
Fussell allowed two runs and four hits in five innings.
Game
notes
U.S. Olympian Jon Rauch, a 6-foot-11 right-hander, threw
out the ceremonial fist pitch with his gold medal around his neck.
Rauch was 16-4 in he White Sox minor league system this season and
is headed to instructional league. ... The Royals finished 7-5
against the White Sox, joining the Red Sox as the only AL teams to
have a winning record against Chicago this year. ... The White Sox
finished with a home attendance of 1,947,799 -- the seventh highest
in franchise history. ... Projected Game 1 playoff starter Mike
Sirotka threw in the outfield before Sunday's game and said he felt
no pain in his elbow, a condition that had forced him out of his
previous start. ... ... Several White Sox players, including rookie
pitchers Kip Wells and Jon Garland, were packing their bags Sunday
to head to Tucson, Ariz., where the White Sox have an instructional
league team. They'll go there to stay in shape in case they are
needed for the playoffs.
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