Using his base running, his glove and his bat, Tony Graffanino led the White Sox to an 8-7 comeback victory Friday night over Kansas City before 15,404 fans in Comiskey Park.
Graffanino’s two-out, ninth-inning single to center scored pinch-runner Royce Clayton with the winning run.
“Every time I get in the game, I try to do something to help us win,” the reserve infielder said.
In the top of the ninth, Graffanino robbed leadoff man Neifi Perez of a fourth hit with a diving catch of a line drive at third base.
As a pinch-runner in the eighth, Graffanino took second on a wild pitch, third after a long fly and scored the tying run on Mark Johnson’s infield single.
“The ball started to slice and I lunged for it,” Graffanino said of his catch. “At bat I tried to see the ball and hit it up through the middle.”
Catcher Gregg Zahn, the Royals’ No. 9 hitter, helped the visitors to a 4-2 lead with his first multi-home run game as a big leaguer. Zahn hit a solo homer in the third inning and homered with a teammate on base in the three-run fourth.
Joe Randa’s homer in the fifth improved the Royals’ lead to 5-2, but in the home half of the inning, the Sox knocked out starter Kris Wilson, scoring four times to take a 6-5 lead. The runs scored on RBI singles by Jose Valentin and Magglio Ordonez and on Jeff Liefer’s two-run homer.
The lead didn’t last long. Second baseman and leadoff man Carlos Febles hit the Royals’ fourth homer of the night, this one off reliever Alan Embree with Zahn on base in the sixth, to put Kansas City back into the lead 7-6.
What a game! Police and fire departments from Chicago will play their annual baseball game in Comiskey Park at Sept. 29, 3:30 p.m. Proceeds from the game will be donated to a fund to aid the families of New York police officers and firefighters who died while trying to rescue victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in New York.
Tickets at $10 apiece may be bought at Chicago firehouses or police stations or at Comiskey Park.
DH 2002: Manuel said that selecting the team’s designated hitter for 2002 will be one of the high priority missions in spring training.
“We have a lot of candidates and that’s the problem, trying to find those guys positions,” Manuel said. “But we do feel in the American League, if you have pitching and hitting, you can be competitive. We have no problem with being last on defense.”
The long list of potential DHs includes first basemen Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko and Jeff Liefer, third baseman Herbert Perry and outfielders Carlos Lee and Jose Canseco.
“We have to find out first if Frank will be able to play first base,” Manuel said. “First base is basically Konerko’s only position. Liefer is really a first baseman. Then there is Herbert and maybe even Carlos Lee. As for Canseco, we’ll bring in Jose in the spring and find out if he can play an outfield position.
“It’s going to be interesting when we get all those people together and decide what’s the best fit for the team. No doubt that will be a major project for spring training.”
Big chance: Manuel said he wants to see more of Liefer, pitcher Josh Fogg and third baseman Joe Crede in the final days of this season. Liefer played third base Friday night and hit his 18th home run in 78 games.
“Liefer could be the left-handed bat we’ve looked for,” Manuel said. “He did a decent job at third base until he kind of flinched in Boston. Fogg has shown a good curveball and put himself into the mix. And, of course, we want to see more of Crede.”
