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AN
08
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2008
5B
VOLLEYBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
"That doesn't promise anything," Bechard said. "But that will get you closer to the results you want with an attitude like that."
Tonight game makes it Horeisi Center's first sell-out of the season bringing fans in to watch the beaten match against in-state rival K-State.
Bee chard said he was looking forward to the environment, though he knows the home crowd means nothing without more consistent play from his team.
bigger than others.
"We hope that the crowd is very involved
"It's K-State, we got family over there, we got people over there," Garlington said. "It's a big rivalry and you can see it in everybody's eyes and you can feel it at practice. It's going to be a good game."
But Bechard does not want to
"It's actually pretty motivating right now. It's motivating me to step up and show them what I got for K-State."
KARINA GARLINGTON Sophomore outside hitter
and we can ride a little bit of that wave of emotion." Bechard said. "But we're still going to have execute at a high level to have success."
Even though Garlington is only a sophomore, she knows that there are some Big 12 games that just feel
put too much emphasis on the rivalry, as he does not care who his team beats - he wants victories no matter who they come against.
"It is a rivalry game for us, but more importantly right now we need to win
in the Big 12," Bechard said, "And whoever that is next on the schedule, it happens to be K-State. So hopefully we can put can put an effort out there that gives us an opportunity to do that."
Edited by Brieun Scott
Royals have 'more highs than lows'
But at the end of the season,team is thankful for every run
MLB
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals bumbled through August, with poor pitching, weak pitching, even botched popups turning another disappointing season downright ugly.
Then came September.
The pitching got better, the bats produced hits and runs in bunches and the wins started piling up. The monthlong run wasn't enough to make up for the disappointment of the 14th losing season in 15 years. Losing hurts, even when you've done it as much as the Royals.
What it did do is provide something that's been missing in Kansas City for a long time: hope.
"Certainly, with the way we finished, I think we had more highs
than lows," Royals manager Trey Hillman said Tuesday.
The Royals started off great in Hillman's first season, winning six of their first eight games. Then came a seven-game losing streak in April, followed by a 12-game slide in May that snuffed out hope of playoff contention.
That led to another August with nothing to play for, and the Royals acted like it, losing 18 of 21 games, the lowlight coming in a 3-2 loss to Texas on the 27th, when pitcher Brian Bannister flubbed a routine popup to allow the go-ahead run to score, dropping Kansas City to a season-worst 21 games under .500.
Somehow, the Royals bounced back, opening September with a 5-4 win over Oakland, finishing it 18-8, their best month since opening the 2003 season 17-7.
Normally, a last-place team making a run the final month of the season doesn't mean much.
September is when teams out of the playoff hunt pack it in, when
rosters are filled with callups getting their first look at the big leagues or career minor leaguers hoping to make an impression. Performing well in September doesn't always mean it's going to happen next season; the numbers are skewed.
Give the Royals some credit
While most of its September wins came against Oakland, Cleveland and Seattle, teams that didn't have much left to play for, Kansas City also won two of three at Minnesota the final weekend, forcing the Twins into Tuesday's one-game playoff with the Chicago White Sox.
The Royals (75-87) finished with six more wins than last season, moved out of last place in the AL Central for the first time in five years and cut their deficit in the division to 13 games after being 27 back at the end of 2007.
"We had a couple bad stretches and got ourselves into too big of a hole," right-hander Gil Meche
They can't help but feel like things are going to change.
said.
Those bad stretches were tough to take. Kansas City had three losing streaks of at least seven games.
There are still plenty of questions to be addressed in the offseason, as well.
The Royals need to add some punch to a lineup that finished 26th in runs scored and need help at the back end of the rotation. They have a decision to make with first baseman Ryan Shealy, who had seven homers and 20 RBIs as a September callup after struggling with injuries the previous two seasons.
Now, with their strong finish to this season, there is hope for the next — and beyond.
"Certainly, finishing the 2008 season on a positive note, it gives you a better feeling into spring training next," Hillman said. "It doesn't make up for the bad times and the losing streaks, but it softens the blow of a fourth-place finish."
MLB
White Sox beat Twins, claim final playoff spot
Chicago tops Minnesota 1-0 in one-game tiebreaker
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — Thanks to Jim Thome's bat and Ken Griffey Jr.'s arm, the AL Central has a winner at last; the Chicago White Sox.
John Danks pitched eight innings of two-hit ball on short rest, Thome homered and Griffey threw out a runner at the plate with a tough tag by A.J. Pierzynski, helping Chicago beat the Minnesota Twins 1-0 in a 163rd-game tiebreaker for the division title Tuesday night.
The White Sox joined the cross-town Cubs in the postseason, the first time since 1906 that both Chicago teams are in. And just like the Cubs did when they clinched the NI, Central crown, several White Sox players came back on the field after the final out and sprayed fans with champagne.
Next up for the South Siders is a first-round playoff matchup with the surprising Rays. Game 1 is Thursday at Tampa Bay, which
won the AL East.
"Look at this," Thome said as the crowd roared all around him. "This is what it's all about — October baseball."
The White Sox got a huge boost Tuesday from two of their oldest players: Thome and Griffey, both longing for their first World Series championship.
Thome's long drive on a 2-2 pitch from rookie Nick Blackburn cleared two rows of shrubs in center field, traveling an estimated 461 feet to snap a scoreless tie in the seventh. It was the 541st homer for Thome, who raised his right fist as he rounded first base. He hadn't been to the playoffs since 2001 with Cleveland.
Griffey, who came to the White Sox in a trade with the Reds so he could have a chance at playing in the postseason, cut down Michael Cuddyer with a nice throw in the fifth. Griffey, who like Thome, is 38, will be making is first postseason appearance since 1997 with Seattle.
Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, left, tags out Minnesota Twins 'Michael Cuddyer at home during the fifth inning of an American League Central Division tiebreaker baseball game Tuesday in Chicago. Cuddyer tried to score from third on a flyout by Braden Harris.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
"He did a heck of a job." Thome said. "I'm so happy for him, too."
Bobby Jenks worked a perfect ninth for his 30th save in 34 chances. Center fielder Brian Anderson ended it with a diving catch of Alexi Casilla's blooper.
Soon after it was over, Pierzynski, Danks and Nick Swisher grabbed a microphone on the field and addressed the delirious crowd.
"That's a battle between friends," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said, referring to the rival Twins. "We just got the last laugh."
Danks, pitching on three days' rest for the first time in his career and with just one win in his previous seven starts, held the Twins hitless through the first four innings on a 56-degree night. Cuddyer led off the fifth with a double and moved to third on Delmon Young's fly to center.
When Brendan Harris hit a fly to Griffey in shallow center, Cuddyter took off for the plate. He crashed into Pierzynski, who held onto the low, two-hop throw from Griffey while tagging Cuddyter for the out. Pierzynski then popped up and showed the ball as the crowd of 40,354 — mostly dressed in black — roared.
It was the eighth one-game playoff in major league history and the first in the AL since 1995 when Seattle beat the California Angels 9-1 to win the AL West. Playing for the Mariners in that game was Griffey and Chicago bench coach Joey Cora.
The White Sox hosted the game because they won a coin flip earlier this month and what an advantage it was: Chicago went 8-2 against the Twins at U.S. Cellular Field this season and 1-8 at the Metrodome.
Danks (12-9) delivered in the biggest came of his brief career. He won a duel with Blackburn (11-11), who retired 13 of 14 before Thome led off the seventh with his long homer.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Chicago White Sox celebrate after an American League Central tiebreaker baseball game against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday in Chicago. The White Sox won 1-0.
"We bounce back every time we are against the wall," Guillen said.
A late-season slide by the White Sox began at the Metrodome a week ago. The White Sox entered a three-game series with a $2_{1/2}$-game lead in the division but the Twins pulled off a sweep to take over first place.
Chicago came home and lost two more to the Indians but was able to stay close because the Twins dropped two in a row to the Royals at the Metrodome. On Sunday both teams won, leaving Minnesota's lead at a half-game. The White Sox had to beat Detroit in a rain-delayed makeup game Monday to force Tuesday night's tiebreaker.
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