White Sox fall to Royals; KC in postseason for 1st time in 29 years

Sep 26, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Kansas City Royals players celebrate on the field after defeating the Chicago White Sox to clinch a American League wild card playoff berth at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Three runs in the first inning by the Kansas City Royals, and less than three hours later, they earned a spot in the postseason for the first time in 29 years.

It was that simple.

Sep 26, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox designated hitter Paul Konerko flies out against the Kansas City Royals in the 9th inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

The Royals defeated the Chicago White Sox, 3-1 Friday night at US Cellular Field in front of nearly 28,000 fans.

Not only is this the series the Royals clinched that postseason berth, but this is the final series of baseball ever for White Sox legend Paul Konerko, who is retiring at the end of the season.

For Konerko, he played first base on Friday, finishing 0-for-4 with one strikeout, but that is OK, because he “probably” didn’t want to rain on the Royals’ parade.

I kid, but still, Paul Konerko Day is Saturday, and he still has two home games left to maybe give us one last memory for his career. If not, he’s still the captain, and he’s done more than enough for the franchise already.

As for the Royals, they finished with seven hits on Friday, with Alcides Escobar and Billy Butler each having two, with Butler also having an RBI.

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Also with RBIs were Nori Aoki and Lorenzo Cain, as Escobar, Aoki and Cain all scored the runs for the Royals, who moved to 88-72 on the season.

The win went to Jeremy Guthrie, now 13-11 on the season. He went seven innings, allowing no runs on four hits and one walk. He struck out six and saw his ERA fall to 4.13 on the season.

Greg Holland gained his 46th save of the season.

Hector Noesi finished the season at 8-12 overall, suffering the loss. He pitched six innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits and two walks. Noesi struck out five.

Noesi’s ERA is now at 4.75 on the season.

For the White Sox, they had six hits from six players. The RBI went to Alexei Ramirez, his 73rd of the season. Scoring that run was Adam Eaton in the bottom of the eighth inning. Eaton had a triple.

The loss dropped the White Sox to 72-88 on the year. The White Sox need to win one of their final two games of the season to avoid at least 90 losses in consecutive seasons.