Game 29 vs. Chicago

Photo from Thursday, but then we didn't win on Thursday

Back in our regular seats tonight, but this was far from a regular game.

Dewayne Wise led off the first with a single. Then he stole third. But just when it started to look like Bruce Chen had adopted the Luke Inning approach to pitching, he managed to squeak out of it

Then we went to work in the bottom half of the inning. Alcides Escobar scored on a double by Alex Gordon. Then White Sox starter Jake Peavy hit Billy Butler with a pitch. Though it wasn’t necessarily deliberate, I thought he got a little close to Brayan Pena after Eric Hosmer homered off him in the sixth.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Early on the rain started to fall. It was a bit of an oddity, as the weather sites predicted only around a 30% chance. And of course we’d gotten almost no precipitation since June. Yet C.B. Bucknor must come from hearty stock. At no point did he ever seem vaguely inclined to stop the game, though for awhile it appeared to be coming down rather hard. But the grounds crew apparently felt the same. At no point did anyone unroll, unwrap or even go near the tarp.

The Sox went in order in the second, third and fourth. Chen stumbled a bit in the fifth but again got out of it.

For our part, the Royals took advantage of some bad Chicago fielding that may have had something to do with the damp conditions. Lorenzo Cain reached on an error by the catcher (though really Tyler Flowers missed catching the pop-up because Peavy appeared to have it in his sights but then fell on his butt). Sadly, he got picked off on a line drive. But then Gordon doubled again (beating the throw at second mostly because the fielder dropped the ball), coming around to score on a single by Butler. Mike Moustakas singled and moved to third on another error, this time in right field. And after the rain let up, Escobar scored on some station-to-station baseball in the fifth.

In the sixth Paul Konerko broke up Chen’s shut-out with a two-run homer. We answered with Hosmer’s solo shot after the stretch. Still, a three-run lead seemed like a good thing. A one-run lead less so. Adam Dunn hit a two-run blast in the eighth, so once again it was edge-of-our-seats time.

In the bottom of the inning the Sox brought in Brett Myers. Apparently it wasn’t the poor guy’s night. He got a struggling Johnny Giavotella (in for Chris Getz, who’s likely out for the season with a broken thumb). He got Cain. But then Escobar singled, as did Gordon and Butler. Moustakas garnered yet another Player of the Game nod by knocking one over the right field fence.

The extra runs turned out to be enough padding. Chicago went in order in the ninth, and we won yet another crazy game.

The box score

WHITE SOX (4) AT ROYALS (9)

WHITE SOX            AB  R  H BI  ROYALS               AB  R  H BI
Dewayne Wise          4  0  1  0  Lorenzo Cain          5  0  1  0  
Kevin Youkilis        4  1  1  0  Alcides Escobar       5  3  4  0  
Adam Dunn             3  2  2  2  Alex Gordon           5  2  3  1  
Paul Konerko          4  1  1  2  Billy Butler          4  2  3  3  
Alex Rios             4  0  0  0  Mike Moustakas        4  1  2  4  
Dayan Viciedo         4  0  1  0  Jeff Francoeur        5  0  0  0  
Alexei Ramirez        4  0  1  0  Eric Hosmer           4  1  1  1  
Tyler Flowers         4  0  1  0  Brayan Pena           4  0  1  0  
Gordon Beckham        3  0  0  0  Johnny Giavotella     4  0  0  0  
TOTALS               34  4  8  4  TOTALS               40  9 15  9

WHITE SOX                     000 002 020 -- 4  
ROYALS                        102 011 04x -- 9  

LOB--WHITE SOX 4, ROYALS 9. ERR--Alex Rios, Kevin Youkilis,
Tyler Flowers. 2B--Adam Dunn, Dewayne Wise, Alex Gordon (2).
HR--Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas.
HBP--Billy Butler. SB--Dewayne Wise, Alcides Escobar.

 WHITE SOX                       IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Jake Peavy                    5 1-3    9    5    3    1    6    1
Nate Jones                        0    2    0    0    0    0    0
Donnie Veal                   0 1-3    0    0    0    0    1    0
Philip Humber                 1 1-3    0    0    0    0    1    0
Brett Myers                       1    4    4    4    0    0    1
 ROYALS                     
Bruce Chen                        6    5    2    2    1    5    1
Kelvin Herrera                    1    1    0    0    0    0    0
Tim Collins                   0 1-3    2    2    2    0    1    1
Aaron Crow                    0 2-3    0    0    0    0    2    0
Louis Coleman                     1    0    0    0    0    1    0

SO--Alex Rios, Adam Dunn, Kevin Youkilis, Paul Konerko,
Alexei Ramirez, Dewayne Wise, Gordon Beckham, Tyler Flowers,
Dayan Viciedo, Jeff Francoeur, Brayan Pena, Alex Gordon (2),
Eric Hosmer (2), Johnny Giavotella (2). BB--Adam Dunn, Mike
Moustakas.

NOTES: Hosmer bobblehead

LOCATION: The K

CONDITION: Wet

WEATHER: Warm,  cloudy

Buck seat: W- (missionary work in Africa)
Guard: JROTC
Anthem: Trio

Umpires
H: Bucknor
1: Blaser
2: Miller
3: Iassogna

Time: 6:10
Temp: 81