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Royals try to stay in playoff hunt against White Sox

Sep 26, 2014 - 2:50 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - And then, it was one.

The Kansas City Royals can officially put an end to a 29-year playoff drought on Friday night, when they visit U.S. Cellular Field for game two of a four- game series with the Chicago White Sox.

A win against the White Sox -- or a Seattle loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim -- would clinch a berth for the Royals, who've not competed in the postseason since winning Game 7 of the 1985 World Series.

Kansas City won Thursday's opener to take a one-game lead over Oakland for the top spot in the American League wild card playoff race, three games ahead of the Mariners with three games left to play.

Its 87 wins are the most for the franchise since a 92-win performance 25 years ago. And a chance at an AL Central Division title still exists, too, with the Royals trailing first-place Detroit by two games.

"We definitely want to win the division, but any way we can get in, we'll take it," Kansas City's Lorenzo Cain said.

Predictably, manager Ned Yost agreed.

"Teams have won the World Series from the wild-card round, so you've got to get in," he said. "If it's a one-game playoff, we'll take the one-game playoff. Whatever gives us the opportunity to continue on is important. It's opportunity. It's not consolation."

Veteran Jeremy Guthrie takes the mound for the Royals after allowing one earned run across his last two starts, which yielded defeats of Boston and Detroit.

"He did a great job of executing his pitches in, changing speeds down and away," Yost said after the win over the Tigers. "The big key for Jeremy -- he did a great job keeping the ball down, changing speeds and keeping them off balance."

Guthrie is 2-1 with a 3.70 earned run average against Chicago across four starts in 2014, though the loss came in the most recent outing, 3-1, on July 21.

The White Sox, who've lost three straight games, counter with Hector Noesi, who starts for the 27th time since being claimed off waivers from Texas in late April.

He'd pitched more than six innings in five consecutive starts before going just six in his most recent outing, a 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday in which he walked three batters and allowed three runs.

"I should be better than that," he said. "I lost. I'm not happy."

In one start against the Royals, Noesi was hammered for five runs on eight hits in just 3 2/3 innings of a 9-1 loss in mid-June.

On Thursday, Eric Hosmer went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI and the Royals picked up another crucial win with a 6-3 takedown of Chicago.

Hosmer is 13-for-29 over his last seven games. Cain went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a pair of runs scored to back a quality start by James Shields.

Shields gave up three runs on five hits in six innings and Kansas City's bullpen did its job the rest of the way, with Kelvin Herrera (4-3), Wade Davis and Greg Holland each tossing a scoreless inning to secure the win.

Josh Phegley homered for the White Sox.

Jose Quintana (9-11) absorbed the loss, falling to 0-6 lifetime against the Royals after giving up five runs on seven hits in 7 1/3 innings.