White Sox season ends with appropriately dull thud
By James Fegan
Farewell. // Mandatory Credit: Reid Compton-USA TODAY Sports
Anything else would have just been untrue.
An encouraging rally powered by the young core of the offense that provided hope to warm a long winter, a glorious final effort from a still-vibrant Paul Konerko, win for Jose Quintana; all would have been a dishonest final note for this miserable season.
Nonexistent offense against Bruce Chen while Quintana was pinned for a loss due to a handful of mistakes wasn’t much for entertainment value, but a 4-1 loss to the Royals goes nicely with the rest of the 2013 summer collection.
Most importantly for the day, Paul Konerko got the curtain call that, to be dramatic for a bit, had to happen given his uncertain future. After his first at-bat, Conor Gillaspie came out in the top of the second and replaced Konerko on defense so that he could have his opportunity to trot off to applause, and it was a trot because Konerko refused to milk it anymore than that until the crowd forced him into a curtain call.
As for that actual game, well…
Lacking his top velocity, Quintana still managed to make it through his first three innings scoreless, retiring seven in a row until he compounded the troubles of a leadoff walk in the fourth to Johnny Giavotella by floating a changeup to Salvador Perez, who sent it to a grisly fate beyond the left field bullpen.
Alexei Ramirez quickly halved the 2-0 deficit in the bottom half of the fourth by lifting some sort of cement-mixer nonsense from Chen around the left field foul pole, giving him a career-low six bombs for the season. It wasn’t much for an offensive show, but it would have to do for the day. Chen only fell an out short of seven strong innings when back-to-back walks ended his day. Marcus Semien‘s day of light-tower power had ended on Saturday, and he grounded out meekly to short to end the seventh inning threat.
Not looking to play tragic hero again, Quintana ended his season in semi-infamy by setting up another two-run home run with another walk, and allowing that home run to backup backup backup Royals catcher Brett Hayes, the backstop’s first on the season. The 4-1 advantage provided needed room for comfort for the Royals, as single from Avisail Garcia started a brief rally on Greg Holland that ended when Jordan Danks and Semien both struck out with the bases loaded.
Ramon Troncoso was the last pitcher for the White Sox this season. Yeah. That makes sense.
Team Record: 63-99
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