Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Royals, Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
July 27, 2005

Introduction

The 2005 Chicago White Sox won their first two games of the season, six of their first eight games, 24 of their first 31, and never really looked back from there. By the end of play on July 26th, the White Sox had a record of 65-34 and a 12-game lead in the AL Central. Their opponent on the 27th, the Kansas City Royals entered play in last place in the AL Central, with a record of 37-63 (which included a 7-1 victory over the White Sox the previous night).

The starting pitcher in this game for the White Sox was Jon Garland. The 25-year-old Garland had been the 10th pick in the 1997 draft by the Chicago Cubs, who traded him to the White Sox in a mid-season trade the next season for relief pitcher Matt Karchner. After winning 12 games in each of the previous three seasons, the 2005 season was a breakthrough season for Garland, resulting in his first (and ultimately last) All-Star selection. He entered play on July 27th having already set a career high in wins with a record of 15-4 (his 15 wins leading the major leagues) and a 3.19 ERA (which was 4th in the AL at the time).

Garland's mound opponent for this game was Runelvys Hernandez, the closest thing the Kansas City Royals had to an ace. The 27-year-old Hernandez entered play with a record of 8-9 with a 4.34 ERA.

First Inning

The first inning went how one might expect for a matchup of an All-Star pitcher against a team's ace as both sides went down 1-2-3 with only one ball hit out of the infield.

Second - Fourth Innings

The next three innings looked a lot like the first inning with only three baserunners across the three innings, only one of whom managed to get as far as second base - Aaron Rowand, who doubled with one out in the top of the fourth inning.

The highlight of the first four innings of the game was probably White Sox DH Carl Everett being ejected after being called out on strikes leading off the top of the second inning.

Fifth Inning

Ross Gload, getting a rare spot start at first base, led off the top of the fifth inning by popping out to Royals' third baseman Mark Teahen. At this point, Runelvys Hernandez had pitched 4-1/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing only two baserunners (a second-inning walk to Gload and the fourth-inning double by Rowand mentioned above).

Joe Crede walked and when catcher Chris Widger singled, Crede became the first baserunner for either team to reach third base. Juan Uribe hit a fly ball to center field. David DeJesus caught it for the second out, but Crede was able to score the game's first run.

Scott Podsednik tried to keep the inning alive with a drag bunt attempt. But Hernandez fielded the ball and threw Podsednik out to end the innning.

The Royals threatened to get that run right back. Emil Brown led off with a double, only the second Royals' baserunner of the game, and the first to get past first base. Mark Teahen struck out. Angel Berroa grounded out for the second out, but Brown got to third base. Alas, he could get no farther, as Ruben Gotay popped out to White Sox second baseman Tad Iguchi.

Sixth Inning

Iguchi led off the top of the sixth inning by being hit by a pitch. Aaron Rowand flied out but Timo Perez (who replaced Carl Everett at DH after Everett was ejected) singled. The next batter was White Sox right fielder Jermaine Dye. Dye had played his first two full seasons in Kansas City and made his first (and, as of 2005, only) All-Star appearance as a Royal in 2000. Five years later, Dye put the ball over the fence in right-center field for his 20th home run of the season, giving the White Sox a 4-0 lead. One batter later, Joe Crede followed suit with a solo home run of his own and the White Sox had a 5-0 lead through 5-1/2 innings.

So far, this was shaping up as a fairly typical 2005 White Sox game: great starting pitching, solid fielding, and timely hitting centered around home runs.

And the bottom of the sixth inning started much the same with infield pop ups producing the first two outs. But then ....

The next batter, Terrence Long hit a ground ball to White Sox second baseman Tad Iguchi, who bobbled the ball for an error, allowing Long to reach first base and the inning to continue. The next batter was long-time Royals first baseman and DH Mike Sweeney, who had turned 32 just five days earlier. Sweeney hit a long fly ball to left field that cleared the fence and cut the White Sox lead to 5-2. Matt Stairs followed with a double, but Garland settled down and got Emil Brown to ground out to Uribe, who fielded and threw cleanly to end the inning.

Seventh Inning

The seventh inning began with a pitching change. Runelvys Hernandez' day ended with six innings and five runs allowed. The new Royals pitcher was Andrew Sisco. Sisco started well, striking out Juan Uribe. Podsednik singled, but Iguchi hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Jon Garland did his best to put the sixth inning behind him. He hit Angel Berroa with a pitch with one out but Berroa never got past first base and the White Sox led 5-2 through seven innings.

Eighth Inning

Andrew Sisco completed his second shutout inning working around a two-out walk to Dye.

David DeJesus led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single to center field. And that ended Jon Garland's day. Garland pitched seven innings (plus one batter) allowing two runs, both unearned, and he was responsible for DeJesus on first base.

The new White Sox pitcher was Neal Cotts, the White Sox primary left-handed relief specialist (i.e., LOOGY). Cotts did his job, getting Terrence Long to hit a ground ball to Ross Gload at first base. Unfortunately, Ross Gload did not do his job, booting the ball, allowing Long to reach first base and DeJesus to reach third. That ended Cotts' day as right-hander Cliff Politte came in to face the right-handed Mike Sweeney.

As Yogi Berra once said, it was deja vu all over again. In the sixth inning, Terrence Long reached base on an infield error and Mike Sweeney followed with a home run. Here, in the eighth inning, Terrence Long reached base on an infield error and Mike Sweeney followed with a home run. With one small difference. This time, it was a three-run home run. Oh, and this time, it tied the score at 5 all.

But the Royals weren't done. Matt Stairs walked and a wild pitch put him on second base. Emil Brown flied out for the first out of the inning, but Stairs took third base on the play and that ended Cliff Politte's day.

The fourth White Sox pitcher of the inning was Damaso Marte. He got Angel Berroa on a line drive to first base and struck out Donnie Murphy and the game went to the ninth inning tied at five.

Ninth Inning

Andrew Sisco's day was finished with two shutout innings. The third Royals pitcher of the game was Ambiorix Burgos. Burgos pitched a 1-2-3 inning getting a strikeout (Joe Crede) and two infield pop-ups.

Damaso Marte came back out to start the bottom of the ninth inning. And he started it well, striking out John Buck. He walked DeJesus but came back to strike out Terrence Long - no risk of an infield error.

The White Sox then turned to their closer, Dustin Hermanson, to try to shut down their nemesis in this game, Mike Sweeney. Hermanson got Sweeney to ground to Uribe at shortstop. Uribe's throw was clean and the game moved to extra innings.

Tenth Inning

New inning, new pitcher for the Royals: Mike MacDougal. New pitcher, similar result: 1-2-3 inning.

Hermanson came back out for the bottom of the tenth. He got two quick outs but walked Mark Teahen. Angel Berroa followed with a single to center field and the Royals had the potential winning run 90 feet from home plate. But Donnie Murphy grounded out to Joe Crede and the game moved to the eleventh inning.

Eleventh Inning

New inning, new pitcher for the Royals: Jeremy Affeldt. Pablo Ozuna pinch hit for Timo Perez and lined a double to center field. Jermaine Dye grounded out. Paul Konerko pinch hit for Gload and was intentionally walked. But Joe Crede struck out, Chris Widger popped out, and the game remained tied at five.

The White Sox brought out their sixth pitcher of the game to start the eleventh inning, 24-year-old rookie Bobby Jenks, who had debuted exactly three weeks earlier and would finish the season as the White Sox closer after Dustin Hermanson's season ended prematurely due to injury.

Jenks pitched a relatively stress-free inning - as "relatively stress-free" as a tied game in the bottom of the eleventh inning can be - hitting Chip Ambres with two outs but following up by striking out Sweeney to end the inning.

Twelfth Inning

New inning and guess what: new pitcher for the Royals: Leo Nunez. Jose Uribe led off with a single but was promptly caught stealing. Scott Podsednik reached first base on an error by second baseman Donnie Murphy. But he, too, was caught stealing. So Tad Iguchi batted with two outs and the bases empty instead of none out and two men on base. And when Iguchi struck out the inning was over and the game remained tied at five.

Bobby Jenks' second inning didn't go quite as smoothly as his first. Joe McEwing singled. Emil Brown flied out but a wild pitch put McEwing on second base. Mark Teahen struck out for the second out. Angel Berroa was intentionally walked. Donnie Murphy was unintentionally walked, loading the bases with two outs. But John Buck grounded out and the game moved to the thirteenth inning.

Thirteenth Inning

For the fifth consecutive inning, the 13th inning opened with a new Royals pitcher. This time, it also opened with a controversy. The seventh Royals pitcher of the game was Shawn Camp. Camp's arrival in the game prompted an objection from White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who argued that Camp had not been listed as an available player on the lineup card distributed at the start of the game. The umpires allowed Camp to remain in the game, however, as he was on the Royals' 25-man roster.

The controversy didn't rattle Camp, who retired the White Sox in order with one strikeout.

The bottom of the 13th inning also brought a new pitcher into the game. The White Sox seventh pitcher of the game was Luis Vizcaino.

Things did not go as well for Vizcaino as they had for Camp. David DeJesus led off with a line-drive single to left field. Chip Ambres also singled to left. And when Mike Sweeney singled to center field, the Royals had the bases loaded with nobody out.

The White Sox decided to get creative. Right fielder Jermaine Dye came in to give the White Sox five infielders. None of them were needed, as Joe McEwing struck out for the first out. A double play could now get the White Sox out of the inning, so Dye went back to right field.

But alas, the potential inning-ending double play didn't come. Emil Brown instead lined a single to left field. DeJesus came in from third base to score. And the Kansas City Royals won the game by a final score of 6 to 5.

Game Summary

Having lost the game - with Shawn Camp picking up the victory - the White Sox filed a formal protest of the game. The protest was denied. The White Sox flew from Kansas City to Baltimore where they swept a four-game series. Both the White Sox and Jon Garland scuffled a bit, however, for the remainder of the season and they entered the final weekend of the season with a team record of 96-63 and an individual record of 17-10, respectively. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians got red hot starting pretty much right from here. From July 28 - September 24, the Indians went 40-13 and closed to within 1-1/2 games of the White Sox.

But the White Sox tightened up and swept the Indians in the final weekend series of the season with Garland picking up his career-high 18th win on Saturday, October 1st. The White Sox finished the season with a record of 99-63, the best record in the American League, six games ahead of the Indians.

From there, the White Sox went 11-1 in the postseason to win the first World Championship for a Chicago baseball team in 88 years, with Garland starting two games, pitching 16 innings with a 2.25 ERA.

As for the 2005 Kansas City Royals, they finished with a record of 56-106, 11 games worse than anybody else in the major leagues. Shawn Camp finished the season with a record of 1-4 with a 6.43 ERA. The star of this game for the Royals, Mike Sweeney, finished the season with a batting line of .300/.347/.517 with 39 doubles, 21 home runs, and 83 RBI. The 2005 season would end up being Sweeney's final season as a regular (he played 306 games and hit 33 home runs across the next five seasons), capping off a fine career in which he was named to five All-Star teams (the last being in 2005) and received MVP votes three times.

Details of the game are shown below. First, I show Player won-lost records for all of the players who participated in the game. Baseball Player won-lost records are constructed so that the players on the winning team earn two pWins and one pLoss in the game while the players on the losing team earn one pWin and two pLosses. I also show expected wins and losses, eWins and eLosses, which are context-neutral. Full play by play details of the game are shown below the won-lost tables. My Player won-lost records are described in more detail in this article and throughout my website.

Retrosheet Box Score and Play-by-Play