Final
Griffey leads White Sox to win in debut
Aug 2, 2008 - 4:38 AM By Patrick Madden PA SportsTicker Contributing WriterKANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Ken Griffey Jr. drove in a pair of runs in his first game with the Chicago White Sox, leading them to a 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
The win allowed the White Sox to maintain a one-half-game lead over the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central.
Griffey, who was acquired in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday for righthander Nick Masset and minor league infielder Danny Richar, collected two RBI singles and narrowly missed a home run in the fourth inning - driving a fly ball to the warning track in right-center field.
"It was great to help out," Griffey said. "It's always fun when you win."
"He's already got two RBI in his first game," White Sox starting pitcher Javier Vazquez said. "We're glad to have him."
Making his first AL start since October 3, 1999, Griffey made his presence in the White Sox lineup felt immediately as he collected a two-out, run-scoring single that plated Jim Thome in the first inning to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.
"Anytime you can contribute with a two-out hit, that's a big plus," Griffey said. "I was just fortunate to help them out."
"There is no doubt he's going to make our lineup better," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "There's no doubt that he's going to make this ballclub better as a group. I think Junior's going to make everybody better."
The hit extended Griffey's hitting streak against Kansas City to 17 games. In that stretch, he has also collected 26 RBI.
Griffey's sixth-inning RBI single through the hole between first and second base triggered a three-run, two-out rally for the White Sox.
Nick Swisher and Juan Uribe also collected RBI singles in the inning for Chicago, which won for the second time in six road games.
"Two-out runs again," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "All their run-scoring was with two outs. We weren't able to execute. We got some hits. We weren't able to do too much offensively. We didn't square up. (Vazquez) mixed and matched his pitches well."
Vasquez (8-9) won his first game since June 17, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out three and walking two. It was his seventh career win against the Royals in 12 lifetime starts.
D.J. Carrasco and Octavio Dotel each tossed an inning of scoreless relief before Bobby Jenks pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 22nd save.
Royals starter Luke Hochevar (6-9) allowed four runs on 10 hits over six innings. He also struck out two.
"I was going right after hitters, trying to be aggressive, trying to keep the counts in my favor, attacking and competing," Hochevar said.
"Overall it was an OK performance," Hillman said. "I'm still disappointed with the two-out runs, especially with the three-spot (in the sixth). He's got to do a better job of controlling the damage. Those crooked numbers hurt you and they hurt us tonight."
Kansas City sliced the margin to 4-2 in the sixth on Billy Butler's RBI single and Alex Gordon's sacrifice fly. Butler and Ross Gload each collected two hits for the Royals, who ended a four-game winning streak.
Alexei Ramirez, Orlando Cabrera and Carlos Quentin also recorded two hits each for Chicago, which won for the seventh time in 10 games against the Royals.
- AL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CHI WHITE SOX 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 12 0
KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 6 0 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: CHA - JAVIER VAZQUEZ, D.J. CARRASCO (7TH), OCTAVIO DOTEL (8TH),
BOBBY JENKS (9TH) AND A.J. PIERZYNSKI
KAN - LUKE HOCHEVAR, JOEL PERALTA (7TH), RAMON RAMIREZ
(9TH)
Aug 1 11:05 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY ALEX GORDON SCORED MARK GRUDZIELANEK.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, B BUTLER ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHI WHITE SOX 4
KANSAS CITY 2 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: M TEAHEN (.246, 0-FOR-2)
White Sox 4, Royals 2 Bot 6, 0 OutsAug 1 10:08 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY BILLY BUTLER SCORED MIKE AVILES.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, B BUTLER ON FIRST, M GRUDZIELANEK ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHI WHITE SOX 4
KANSAS CITY 1 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: A GORDON (.251, 0-FOR-2)
White Sox 4, Royals 1 Bot 6, 0 OutsAug 1 10:05 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JUAN URIBE SCORED KEN GRIFFEY JR.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, J URIBE ON FIRST, N SWISHER ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHI WHITE SOX 4
KANSAS CITY 0 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR CHI WHITE SOX: O CABRERA (.268, 1-FOR-3)
White Sox 4, Royals 0 Top 6, 0 OutsAug 1 9:55 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY NICK SWISHER SCORED ALEXEI RAMIREZ.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, N SWISHER ON FIRST, K GRIFFEY JR ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHI WHITE SOX 3
KANSAS CITY 0 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR CHI WHITE SOX: J URIBE (.225, 0-FOR-2)
White Sox 3, Royals 0 Top 6, 0 OutsAug 1 9:54 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY KEN GRIFFEY JR SCORED CARLOS QUENTIN.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, K GRIFFEY JR ON FIRST, A RAMIREZ ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHI WHITE SOX 2
KANSAS CITY 0 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR CHI WHITE SOX: N SWISHER (.227, 0-FOR-2)
White Sox 2, Royals 0 Top 6, 0 OutsAug 1 9:52 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY KEN GRIFFEY JR SCORED JIM THOME.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, K GRIFFEY JR ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHI WHITE SOX 1
KANSAS CITY 0 TOP, 2ND
DUE UP FOR CHI WHITE SOX: N SWISHER (.228, 15 HR, 50 RBI)
White Sox 1, Royals 0 Top 2, 0 OutsAug 1 8:35 PM
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