In rebuild battle, White Sox hold off Royals

When two of the worst teams in baseball lock horns, one has got to come away with the win.

It was the White Sox (32-61) holding that honor Friday night with a 9-6 decision over the Royals (26-67) at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The Sox are in rebuild mode for the first time, and the Royals are back to tearing down the roster after making consecutive World Series appearances in 2014-15.

Not surprisingly, Kansas City's Ned Yost prefers managing a major-league ready roster.

"There's nothing easy about going through a rebuild, but your fans can sure make it a lot easier on you," Yost said. "It's still not fun to lose. No fun. We won five games in June. That's a rough go, man.

"The White Sox are going about it right. These guys are getting the experience they need. It's going to take young kids 2½ years before they're going to be successful, so it takes time and you've got to have patience."

The Sox flashed some power while winning their second straight game.

Slumping first baseman Jose Abreu and Leury Garcia hit solo home runs in the sixth inning and Omar Narvaez hit a 2-run shot in the eighth.

Starting pitcher James Shields (4-10) allowed 4 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks over 6.2 innings to get the win.

How the West was won:

Before Saturday's game against the Royals, the White Sox will celebrate the 25th-year anniversary of winning the AL West.

Jack McDowell, who went 22-10 with a 3.37 ERA and won the Cy Young Award in '93, will be among the players and coaches on the field before the game.

"We were all pulling toward the same thing and that's really what it's all about when it comes down to it," McDowell said. "You can do anything you want individually, but you win a championship when you're the last team standing for that goal. There's nothing else you can accomplish there.

"Obviously, you move to the playoffs where we didn't get it done, but there were certain goals and that's what it's all about in team sports."

The Sox lost 4-2 to the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL championship series.

"I probably had the best playoffs of my career that year," said Hall of Fame left fielder Tim Raines, who was 12-for-29 (.444) in the ALCS. "I think I broke a record for hits in a playoff series. I was on base a lot. Didn't score a lot of runs but I put the team in position to score runs, though we didn't score a lot.

"It was a great team. I thought we were unlucky not to get a chance to go to the World Series and get a chance to win it. But the team was a great team."

Injury update:

Avisail Garcia did some running on the field Friday and said he felt "good."

On the disabled list with another hamstring injury, Garcia should be able to avoid a rehab assignment and rejoin the Sox when the second half of the season opens with a July 20 game at Seattle.

Nicky Delmonico, who has been out since May 19 with a fractured hand, was 3-for-3 with Class AAA Charlotte Friday night. The outfielder's first five rehab games were with AA Birmingham.

First-round draft pick Nick Madrigal played in one game with the Arizona League White Sox before being shut down for a week with a hamstring injury.

Madrigal was back on the field Thursday and he got his first professional hit Friday night, a single in the first inning for the AZL Sox.