A Missouri native delivered the death blow to the Royals in a 3-2 loss in Chicago Sunday afternoon. Westphalia, Missouri’s Joe Crede, singled in Jim Thome in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie. The RBI single had to be extra frustrating to the team given the fact that reliever Elmer Dessens retired Scott Posednik and Tadahito Iguchi to lead off the inning. But Thome doubled, Paul Konerko walked and Joe Crede was up next, ready to claim his medal for heroism. Dessens was relieved by Andrew Sisco, who walked Rob Mackowiak before retiring Juan Uribe with a pop out.
Royals’ starter Mark Redman had his best outing of the season with a six-hit, seven inning performance. He allowed two runs and struck out six.
Redman was given a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning thanks to back-to-back home runs from Tony Graffanino and Emil Brown. It was the second home run of the season for both. They tagged the long shots off St. Charles, Missouri native Mark Buerhle.
The Royals’ lead was short-lived, however. Pablo Ozuna tripled in Chris Widger and Brian Anderson in the bottom half of the second to tie the game at 2-2.
The good news for Redman and the bad news for Buehrle is that neither of the starting pitchers were a part of the decision. Dessens (2-2) was charged with the loss and White Sox reliever Brandon McCarty (2-1), who recorded one out in the eighth inning, was credited with the win.
Royals’ designated hitter, Justin Huber made his first start of the season and went 1-for-2. He’s taking Mike Sweeney’s spot on the roster.