Just as the White Sox hoped when they acquired him, Jeff Samardzija earned a late September victory over a top American League club on Tuesday night.
But little else has gone according to plan for Samardzija or the White Sox.
Samardzija delivered seven sharp innings as the White Sox bested the Kansas City Royals 4-2 at U.S. Cellular Field. But instead of pitching in a pennant race, Samardzija was mostly improving his free agent resume as he likely made his final start for the White Sox, who officially were eliminated from the wild-card race last weekend. After losing eight of his previous nine starts, Samardzija won his second in a row.