Morning Box Score

By Matt Motyka in News on Aug 19, 2009 3:00PM

Royals Nip Sox
It was not a fairy-tale (re)beginning for Freddy Garcia and the Sox on Tuesday, as they fell to the Kansas City Royals 5-4. Garcia made it into the third inning unscathed, but then allowed five runs over the next 2.1 frames. Meanwhile, A.J. Pierzynski plated a run in the first and a pair of homers from Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin put Chicago up 4-1 through three innings. The Sox had their best chance to tie in the home half of the fifth, but Quentin was gunned down at the plate while trying to tag from third. The bullpen held K.C. scoreless for the rest of the night, but the Sox’s bats couldn’t erase the one-run deficit, going hitless in the final four innings. The Sox will face Zack Greinke in the rubber game today at 1:05.

Padres Best Cubs
The Cubs continued to head in the wrong direction Tuesday night, dropping game two to the San Diego Padres 6-3. Trailing 3-1 through three innings, the Cubs pulled even after Ryan Dempster notched an RBI single in the fourth and Alfonso Soriano did the same in the fifth. San Diego-slugger Adrian Gonzalez responded with a first-pitch solo shot in the bottom half, however, and the Friars added two more in the eighth when the 285-pound Kyle Blanks bounced one off the wall in center for an inside-the-park home run. Dempster lasted seven innings for Chicago, permitting four runs on eight hits while striking out 10. The Cubs will look to salvage game three tonight at 9:05 before heading up the coast for a four-game series with the Dodgers.