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“White Sox Relish in Walk-Off As Season Nears End” … Scott Merkin, MLB.Com “Garcia Gives White Sox Walk-Off Win Vs

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“White Sox Relish in Walk-Off As Season Nears End” … Scott Merkin, MLB.Com “Garcia Gives White Sox Walk-Off Win Vs Headlines of October 4, 2015 “White Sox relish in walk-off as season nears end” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Garcia gives White Sox walk-off win vs. Tigers” … Greg Garno and Jason Beck, MLB.com “Alexei takes in possible final games with Sox” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Montas takes hill for Sox 2015 finale” … Greg Garno, MLB.com “Albers holds scoreless streak as free agency nears” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Shortstop Alexei Ramirez wants to stay, but do White Sox want him?” … Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune “Saturday's recap: White Sox 4, Tigers 3” … Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune “White Sox' climb to respectability starts in AL Central” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun Times “White Sox rally in ninth, tip Tigers” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun Times “While Cubs roll, White Sox keep fading into irrelevance” … Dan McGrath, Chicago Sun Times “White Sox futures: Thompson’s bright, Ramirez’s uncertain” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun Times “Chicago White Sox have difficult decision to make on Alexei Ramirez” … Scot Gregor, Daily Herald “Leury Garcia delivers Chicago White Sox to 4-3 walkoff win” … Scot Gregor, Daily Herald “Erik Johnson makes his case for 2016 rotation spot” … Doug Padilla, ESPN.com “Rapid Reaction: White Sox 4, Tigers 3” … Doug Padilla, ESPN.com “White Sox edge Tigers 4-3” … Associated Press, ESPN.com “White Sox's first order of business: Shortstop” … Doug Padilla, ESPN.com “Erik Johnson 'put himself in the running' for White Sox rotation for 2016” … John Paschall, CSN “Unusual uncertainty surrounds Alexei Ramirez heading into offseason” … John Paschall, CSN “Tyler Flowers set for arthroscopic knee surgery next week” … Dan Hayes, CSN “Levine: Retired Outfielder Raul Ibanez A Potential Candidate For White Sox Bench Coach” … Bruce Levine, CBS Chicago White Sox relish in walk-off as season nears end Victory over Tigers provides spark of excitement, ensures fourth-place finish in division By Scott Merkin / MLB.com | @scottmerkin | October 3rd, 2015 CHICAGO -- The on-field celebration following a 4-3 White Sox victory over Detroit on Saturday night at chilly U.S. Cellular Field was more befitting of a playoff party than game No. 161 for two teams out of contention. It just goes to show that a walk-off win, as the White Sox executed by rallying for two runs off of Neftali Feliz, has a high impact any time. The Saturday honors went to Leury Garcia, who pinch-ran for Melky Cabrera in the eighth and came to the plate with two on and two out after Jose Abreu was intentionally walked. Garcia connected on a ground ball between shortstop and third base, giving him greater momentary notoriety than his previous status as one of the three White Sox position players to take the mound this season. "He's a clubhouse favorite now with this weather and everything else," said a smiling White Sox manager Robin Ventura after his team's 12th walk-off win of the season. "Guys are just happy for him. It's a big hit. To come up in a big spot like that and be able to do it is fun. Any walk-off's fun." "It was fun ninth inning," Garcia said. "I was on deck, and as soon as I saw them walk Abreu, I said, 'OK, I got it.' I put the ball in play and see what happens." What happened is the White Sox made sure they would not finish at the bottom of the American League Central. That place officially goes to the Tigers and their 73-87 mark, in comparison to the White Sox at 76-85, with only Sunday's finale remaining. Saturday's victory kept the White Sox at 11th in the 2016 MLB Draft order, with only the top 10 picks protected from compensation when one of those teams signs a free agent who received a qualifying offer from his previous team. For a group that has underachieved during much of this season such as the South Siders, any sort of excitement -- even in the season's second-to-last contest -- becomes a most wanted occurrence. Garcia gives White Sox walk-off win vs. Tigers By Greg Garno and Jason Beck / MLB.com | October 3rd, 2015 CHICAGO -- Leury Garcia hit a walk-off single and the White Sox scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth as they defeated the Tigers, 4-3, on Saturday night at U.S. Cellular Field in the penultimate game of the season. It was the second walk-off hit of Garcia's career and just his third hit this season. Garcia followed J.B. Shuck's RBI double in the inning to mount a comeback after the Tigers scored in the top of the frame. Garcia's last walk-off hit came on July 2, 2014, against the Angels. Saturday's gave the White Sox their 12th walk- off of the year. "It was awesome, I was ready, and I had the opportunity to hit," Garcia said. "I put the ball in play and see what happens. … I'm not playing too much, but I've been working hard and working for the moment." James McCann knocked an RBI double to right field, but he could not preserve starter Justin Verlander's day. The right- hander allowed five hits and two runs over six innings. In his last start this year, Verlander finished with nine strikeouts and his 14th quality start of the season. He was a part of a Detroit pitching corps that held the White Sox to 2-for-15 with RISP. "It wasn't easy out there," Verlander said. "It was pretty cold and windy, obviously. The wind had a little bit of an effect on the ball. You didn't know what it was going to do sometimes. But all in all, at the end of the day, not a bad start, and I'm pleased to end the season on a solid note the last month and a half, two months." Erik Johnson allowed two earned runs and five hits over 6 1/3 innings while striking out four for a no-decision. The rookie ended the season with four quality starts in six outings. His start also ensured the White Sox would finish fourth in the American League Central this season. "I thought I made a little progress with every start," Johnson said. "I wanted to go deeper in the game with a more proficient pitch count. I thought I accomplished that." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Miggy ends power outage: Making what is likely to be his final start of the season, Miguel Cabrera picked a good time for his first home run since Aug. 26, sending a sixth-inning drive deep to right-center field and off the top of the fence for a two-run homer. Cabrera's 18th home run of the year was his first extra-base hit of any kind since Sept. 18. More > Born to run: Adam Eaton wasted little time helping the White Sox get on the board, and he inched closer to putting himself in the record books in the process. The center fielder led off the first with a single and stole second base before scoring on Melky Cabrera's double. It's the 98th run Eaton has scored this year, just shy of becoming the first White Sox player to 100 since Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome surpassed the feat in 2006. Eaton also extended his on-base streak to 22 games with the hit, batting .367 in that span with 15 runs scored. McCann-do: Alex Avila caught Verlander for the 116th and possibly final time, but with lefty reliever Dan Jennings on and the go-ahead run standing at second base, McCann got the call to hit. After taking a slider for a strike and missing a fastball, the rookie tightened his approach and sent a loft to right field that hit off the fence as Rajai Davis sped home. McCann's double improved him to 3-for-5 with two RBIs as a pinch-hitter. Nice to see you: Avisail Garcia led off the big ninth inning with a walk, and the right fielder finished 2-for-3 day at the plate, scoring the game-tying run. Garcia is now hitting .348 over his last seven games against Detroit -- his former team. QUOTABLE "Yeah, he'd be in that mix. You start looking at all the things Leury can do, moving around, playing all kinds of positions, switch-hitter, stole a big base tonight too. You can put him in there and do a lot of different things. He's like throwing a little wild card in there. You never know where you're going to put him. He can fill in anywhere, and he can pitch." -- White Sox manager Robin Ventura, on Garcia's role this year as a utility player "It was a little emotional, I guess. We put a lot of time and effort in the last five or six years. We've become good friends and had a lot of success together. It was definitely a little tough." -- Soon-to-be free agent Avila, on catching Verlander for possibly the last time in his career SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Avila has caught Verlander 116 times in his career, nearly twice as often as any other catcher. Ivan Rodriguez is next on the list at 62. WHAT'S NEXT Tigers: Five days after enduring a 54-pitch first inning and 71 pitches with five outs recorded, Daniel Norris wraps up Detroit's season when he takes the mound Sunday in a 3:10 p.m.
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