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Yankees Sap Chicago's Will, Sweep Series
It's all over except for the counting in the American League, as the Yankees broke the hearts of Chicago fans to sweep the final series between the two teams. The Yankees won 16 of 22 games against the Chisox this season.
It looked like a blowout through much of the game. The New York AL entrants posted leads of 8-1 and 11-2. But then in the 9th, the White Sox struck. Steve Krug insisted on staying in this one and for some reason Yankees manager Rich Naughton didn't take him out even though he was practically pitching batting practice out there. "I've won the past two pennants in this league, son," said the grizzled skipper, who was signed by the Yanks after three great seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics. "Don't you think I know what I'm doing? 'Sides, Krug's velocity was still there and believe you me you do not take out Steve Krug before he's ready to be taken out."
The 9 run inning, which came off of 6 singles, a triple, and 2 bases on balls, knotted the score at 11. If this was a Hollywood movie, the Sox would have gotten that one extra run or at least shut down the Yanks in their half of the 9th to win it in extra frames. But such was not to be. Chisox reliever Mark Bulter trotted out to the mound (ace Spencer Mayer having been used the previous inning) and promptly allowed the first two baserunners to reach. A sacrifice bunt, an intentional walk, and a weak pop-out to short by pinch-hitter Steve West later, the bases were loaded but there were two outs on the scoreboard. All Mayer had to do was register the final out. But leadoff man Nathan Benkhe had other plans. He took the first pitch looking, watched three offspeed pitches miss the strike zone, watched a very iffy pitch go by for strike two, and proceeded to foul off four more pitches before he finally managed to push one into the hole between 3B Mike Sheridan and SS Jefferson Davis for the game-winning single.
The loss puts Chicago 4 games back with 8 to play, a near-insurmountable gap. White Sox manager Salvador Lopez was interviewed but no words could be made out between the weeping.
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AL Race
Team W L PCT GB
New York Yankees 90 54 .625 -
Chicago White Sox 85 57 .599 4
All-Time Greatest Teams
Team W L PCT GB
1921 Pirates 108 46 .701 -
1925 Red Sox 108 46 .701 -
1911 Giants 107 47 .695 1
1932 GIANTS 106 35 .752 2
1914 Giants 104 50 .675 4
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American League
Chicago White Stockings 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 11 13 1
New York Yankees 2 0 3 0 0 3 0 3 1 12 23 0
HR: CHA M. LaPointe (7, 1st Inning off S. Krug, 0 on, 1 out)
NYY M. Kennedy (16, 1st Inning off B. Gordon, 1 on, 1 out)
W: Krug (21-11) L: M. Bulter (5-1)
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National League
St Louis Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 9 0
New York Giants 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 4 12 1
HR: NYG E. Conn 2 (35, 8th Inning off J. Porter, 0 on, 1 out; 10th Inning
off R. Carmody, 0 on, 0 outs)
W: R. Rush (23-9) L: Carmody (3-2)