The White Sox went into last week with a 2 game lead over Detroit. Given that the Sox were heading out for a 7-game road trip and wouldn’t have a day off, holding their lead at 1.5 or 2.5 games and getting Paul Konerko back were solid goals for the week. Let’s take a look at the A.L. Central Week in Review:

Chicago: The Sox had four games in Toronto to start their week. Jake Peavy pitched 8 strong innings in the opener, but as has become habit, the offense gave him little support. Adam Dunn hit two solo blasts, but that was all the scoring the Sox could muster in a 3-2 loss. The support wasn’t much better Tuesday, but Jose Quintana and the bullpen made it work and the Sox evened the series. Wednesday the bats finally awoke, to the tune of 9 runs. The recently reacquired Dewayne Wise, who never has to buy a beer on the South Side, hit a home run, as did Dunn and Dayan Viciedo in the 9-5 victory. In Thursday’s finale, Francisco Liriano bounced back from a rough start and the Sox tied a season-high with five homers in a 7-2 win.

The Sox were in Kansas City next. Paul Konerko returned and did it in style, hitting a home run in his second AB. Chris Sale was left in at least one batter too long, allowing a 2-run double on his last pitch. Sale allowed a season-high 13 base runners as the Sox lost. Then Jake Peavy was a little off Saturday, failing to finish the 6^th inning for the first time since May 15^th. Konerko and Dunn each homered (Dunn’s was the 400^th of his career), but the Sox also made 4 errors. The result was an ugly 9-4 loss. Quintana pitched well again Sunday, but the Sox couldn’t manage a hit until the 7^th inning. They managed to tie the game in the 8^th, but Jesse Crain gave up a series of hits, the Sox fell behind again, and like that, they were swept out of town.

Record for the week: 3-4

Player of the week: Adam Dunn – .269/.367/.769, 1.136 OPS, 7 H, 4 HR, 6 R, 7 RBI

Detroit: The Tigers week began in Minnesota. Monday’s game brought Anibal Sanchez’s third bad game in four starts since the Tigers got him from Miami. This time it was 5 runs on 12 hits over 5.1 innings in a 9-3 loss. Doug Fister helped Detroit rebound Tuesday by lasting 8 innings. He gave up 4 runs, but none of them were charged to him, as a pair of errors factored into the scoring. Meanwhile, the Tigers put up 8 runs on 13 hits, including 3 by Miguel Cabrera, as they pulled away in the later innings for a comfortable 8-3 win. In the rubber match Max Scherzer struck out 10 over 7 shutout innings. Cabrera hit his 30^th HR of the year and Delmon Young hit his 13^th, as Detroit rolled to another victory.

The Tigers returned home to host Baltimore for the weekend. In the opener, Justin Verlander wasn’t his best, going just 6 innings while allowing 3 runs, but Prince Fielder tied the game with a massive 2-run blast in the 6^th and then put Detroit ahead with another 2-run shot in the 8^th. Miguel Cabrera was on-base for each of those home runs and also hit one of his own in the 5-3 win. The bats didn’t make much noise Saturday and Detroit lost 3-2. Rick Porcello had the same 3 runs over 6 innings line as Verlander, but of course that’s a much better result from Porcello, who’s been shaky all season. Detroit shot out to a 5-0 lead Sunday, but Doug Fister was roughed up and the Tigers never scored another run, eventually dropping the game 7-5.

Record for the week: 3-3

Player of the week: Miguel Cabrera – .476/.577/.810, 1.386 OPS, 10 H, 2 HR, 7 R, 6 RBI

The Also-Rans:

Kansas City: The Royals took two of three from the A’s at home, highlighted by 7 shutout innings from Jeremy Guthrie Tuesday. It was a very low scoring series, K.C. outscored Oakland 8-5 over the three games combined. After that was a sweep of the White Sox. Billy Butler, in the midst of the best season of his career, hit his 25^th home run Friday and Guthrie took a no-hitter into the 7^th on Sunday. The sweep moved Kansas City, who has the best record in the division during August, into 3^rd place.

Record for the week: 5-1

Cleveland: The Indians had another horrid week. They beat the Angels Monday, but then lost the second and third games of that series. Ubaldo Jimenez was shelled Tuesday; his ERA stands at 5.62, worst in the American League. The Tribe traveled up the coast to Oakland for the weekend, where they were outscored 21-9 over three games, all of which they lost. Not only are the Indians 10-26 since the All-Star break, they also have the worst record in the AL going all the way back to May 1^st.

Record for the week: 1-5

Minnesota: The Twins started their week by beating the Tigers, but it was all downhill after that. They lost the next two to Detroit, with the only real bright spot being Josh Willingham 30^th home run, which made him the first Twin since 2009 to hit that many. Minnesota was off to Seattle next, where they managed to score just 6 runs the entire weekend, and were swept. The Twins have lost 9 of their last 10 and have the worst record in the American League.

Record for the week: 1-5

The short of it: The Sox had a frustrating weekend, but Konerko returned to the field and looked good doing it, and Detroit wasn’t able to capitalize on things and still sits 1.5 games back. It’s not a comfortable lead, but 1^st place is a good thing by any margin. The Sox will be happy to get home, though having the Yankees roll into town can’t be particularly comforting.

A.L. Central Standings (through Sunday, August 19th):

The Week Ahead:

White Sox (65-53): 2
Royals (52-66): 4

Not a happy Youk. (Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE)

With two down in the 4th, Paul Konerko started his own welcome back party by taking a Luis Mendoza offering into the left field bullpen. With the game tied from each team’s offering of solo homeruns, Lorenzo Cain having gone long on Sale in the 2nd, Alexei Ramirez lined a double and was able to score on a single by Gordon Beckham. Alexei made the turn at third at about the time that Jeff Franceour came up with the ball and prepared to unleash a throw. Joe McEwing was not intimidated and it paid off.

Billy Butler took Chris Sale deep in the 6th to tie the game back up and the lefty pitched himself into trouble in the 7th, loading the bases for Salvador Perez to knock a double against the wall that put the Royals in front 4-2. Sale finished with 9 hits, 4 runs, 4 walks (2 of them intentionally issued to Jeff Franceour) and 5 strikeouts.

The Sox kicked off the 8th with a pair of hits by Viciedo and Beckham. Alejandro De Aza was lifted from the game and Dewayne Wise inserted to hit in his place. Wise immediately attempted to lay down a bunt, and on the first pitch he bounced one on the plate that was fielded quickly by Perez and the triple play drill was performed. Home plate umpire Dan Iossogna declared the ball foul and Wise was able to live through another failed bunt attempt followed by a K. From there, two more Ks by Kelvin Herrera and the threat was over.

Plus: Paul Konerko in the lineup is a nice sight. As Jim Margalus points out, the Sox made do for the short while that he was shelved, but when timely hitting runs out, it’s best to have quality hitting right there waiting. Of course, announcing his return with a HR is a nice way to distribute warm fuzzies all around.

Minus: I know you’re expecting the bunt lecture, and I really want to give it. I’ll just say that with 2 on and no outs down by 2 runs a sacrifice bunt doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The sacrifice was not executed and Wise ultimately struck out, but the whole complexion of the inning changed when that concept was put in motion.

Player of the Game
Gordon Beckham – .196 WPA

Source: FanGraphs

Matt Adams: Eric Hosmer was being pointed at to be the leader of the Royals youth movement. He’s still incredibly young, but how much does his sophomore slump worry you going forward.

Mike Vamosi: Hosmer’s slump has been worrisome given how good he was last season when he was called up from Omaha and killed it in the minor leagues. I think that keeping him in KC instead of letting him work it out in triple-A was wise but if he starts slow next season I think they team will send him down, he’s still really young which I think gives Royals fans pause for now.

MA: Speaking of the youth movement, there are still some heavy players laying in wait, like Wil Myers. With the future still looking bright for position players, do you think something has to be done from outside with regards to pitching? Or are there some viable players that can fill that gap internally?

MV: I’m sure you’ve seen the hashtag #FreeWil for about the last month given the play of the Royals starting rightfielder but pitching is something the organization needs to produce. Pressure on the front office/ownership to spend on one to two starters will be great this winter and Jeremy Guthrie might be part of that solution. Really in terms of internal options Jake Odorizzi who’s been pretty solid since getting called up from Northwest Arkansas to Omaha, after that Ryan Verdugo who got roughed up in his lone MLB start is an option. Vin Mazzaro and Nate Adcock could also be options down the road. Unfortunitely it seems that the pitching isn’t as far along as the position players currently are.

MA: I imagine you folks were pretty bummed about the scales of the Melky Cabrera/Jonathan Sanchez trade. Feeling any better about it now?

MV: Count me as someone who at the time thought it be ok because the team had a need for starting pitching and a surplus of outfielders. Royals fans quickly soured on this deal after Sanchez’s first start in Anaheim with how both players season took off. But you’re right KC fans are feeling a little better with turning Sanchez into Gurthrie then seeing the suspension that happened earlier this week.

MA: How far away do you think the Royals are from being a regular threat to the division?

MV: Currently we’re in year six of Dayton Moore’s “process” but 2013 or ’14 should be when the team is ready to compete with everyone in the division. Again this all comes down to PITCHING PITCHING PITCHING! The Royals also need to figure out who’s their second basemen is it former White Sox Chris Getz, Johnny Giavotella who’s been exiled to Omaha for reasons unknown to fans or Christian Colon who was KC’s first round draft pick a couple years ago. Also when does Wil Meyers finally get called up and does that mean Francoeur is a high paid backup?

Swing by Kings of Kauffman for the other half of the conversation.