It was one of those pregame conversations that stick in the mind. It was about the development of Jason Bere and Wilson Alvarez and about how Alvarez struggled longer with his control.
“Of course,” cautioned manager Gene Lamont, “Jason’s going to have times when he doesn’t throw strikes like he wants to.”
One of those times was Friday night, and it helped the Kansas City Royals rally to beat the Sox 6-5 in Comiskey Park.
The loss, combined with everything else that took place Friday night, packed the top four teams in the American League Central to within a half-game of the lead.
This wasn’t the overpowering Bere (2-2). He had to battle, and he won most of them.
He lost a big one to Gary Gaetti.
The Sox gave him a decent lead against the formidable David Cone (5-1 with his 100th career victory). In the first, they scored a run without a hit as Tim Raines walked, went to second when Joey Cora-trying to bunt-took a pitch on the shin, advanced to third on a Frank Thomas flyball and scored on Julio Franco’s groundball.
In the third, Cora singled and scored one out later on Franco’s eighth homer of the year, a rocket into the seats in right-center.
Kansas City broke through, sort of, in the fourth. Brian McRae opened it with a walk, and Wally Joyner singled him to third. After Bere struck out Mark Macfarlane, rookie Bob Hamelin lifted a pop fly to short left. Three people could have caught it, and none did. Joyner was forced at second, but McRae was able to trot home.
There would be more popup trouble later.
Meanwhile, the Sox matched that in their fourth, with Raines’ single driving home Lance Johnson, who had doubled off McRae’s chest. It was 5-1. It wasn’t enough.
Bere walked Macfarlane to open the seventh. Then Hamelin did his thing-another high pop, this one Guillen’s alone. He drifted to his left and flat missed it. Macfarlane alertly reached second.
Guillen didn’t blame the crosswind, a chilly but relatively modest 13 mile-an-hour breeze. “I just didn’t put a glove on the ball,” he said.
Bere seemed unshaken when he jumped ahead of Gaetti with a strike. “You can’t let things like that bother you,” he said. “If they do, you don’t belong out there in the first place.”
Then he threw one that the veteran parked in the seats in left. Not a terrible pitch, Bere said.
“It was in the right spot,” he said, “but it needed to be more up, and he got ahold of it.”
A walk to Felix Jose ended Bere’s night and brought in Jose DeLeon. Chico Lind bunted Jose to second, Greg Gagne’s sharp single pushed him to third, and Vince Coleman’s flyball to Darrin Jackson in shortish right brought Jose home with the tying run.
Three walks by Bere, two that led off innings. All scored.
In the eighth, a one-out walk to Macfarlane brought a call for Kirk McCaskill. Hubie Brooks forced Macfarlane, but successive singles by Gaetti and Jose brought Brooks home.
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Next: Vs. Kansas City, Saturday, 1:35 p.m., WGN-Ch. 9
