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Game 162 Open Thread - Royals vs. White Sox

The final Royals game of the season. Try to hold back your tears.

By Connor Moylan
David Banks

If the Kansas City Royals defeat the Chicago White Sox today, Rany Jazayerli will have correctly predicted the number of Royals wins during the preseason. If the team loses, our own Clark Fosler will have that honor.

Here's a link to our preseason predictions page. Looking back on that page is a good reminder that none of us really know what we are talking about, ever.

Bruce Chen will start for Kansas City in the finale. Chen has an 8-4 record with a 3.38 ERA, so you may as well chalk him up for a contract extension during the winter. I'm sure his declining strikeout rate, .259 BABIP and 6.6% HR/FB ratio this season will bode well for 2014.

Salvador Perez is playing first base today, because why not I guess. It's time to way over-analyze this decision; if the Royals want to get Perez's bat in the lineup more, then either Eric Hosmer or Billy Butler needs to go, since they are taking up any 1B/DH spots. Hosmer isn't going anywhere, so I wonder if we don't start hearing some Butler trade rumors during the offseason.

Of course, Ned Yost could simply be bored, because Pedro Ciriaco and Irving Falu are also in the lineup. Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star brings us the Royals starting nine:

I can''t forget the random Johnny Giavotella and Brett Hayes sightings either. Yost definitely threw darts at a board with all the players on it to come up with today's batting order.

Jose Quintana will start for the White Sox. The southpaw turned in another solid campaign in 2013, posting a 3.45 ERA with a 3.72 FIP over 193 innings. He did a good job boosting his strikeout rate to league-average while keeping his walk rate below league-average, and has managed to keep his home-run rate in check.

Paul Konerko may be playing his final game with the Chicago White Sox, but he has not made his official decision on retirement. The veteran was rarely one of the best players in MLB, but was a consistent contributor for Chicago from 1999 up until last season.

Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago brings us the White Sox lineup:

There is a lot of interesting non-Royals happenings going on today, so feel free to talk about the NFL or the games involving the AL Wild Card hopefuls. Or about how we may not have a fully functioning government come Tuesday, whatever feels important.

Song of the Day: Pink Floyd - Money

Any song off The Dark Side of the Moon needs no introduction.

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