The White Sox were on life support before this game, but now…it’s all but over. That said after downing the fading White Sox on Sunday with David Price getting his 20th win 6-2 over ther Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays still have a chance to make the postseason.Tampa Bay has played its best ball at the right time, winning 10 of 11 to stay in the race for the second wild card.The Rays go home to play the Orioles, who are tied with the Yankees for the AL East lead. And Oakland is at home against Texas to wrap up the season.The Sox chances are pretty much mission impossible. They White Sox have lost 10 of 12 and fallen three games behind Detroit with three to go. Their hope: win three straight in Cleveland and root for the Royals to sweep the Tigers in Kansas City, forcing a one-game tiebreaker Thursday.The Tigers edged the Twins in Minneapolis 2-1 on Prince Fielder’s two run ninth inning homer.

“Obviously we’re up against it now, but we’ll continue to play,” Paul Konerko said. “That’s what we do and what we’ve done all year. It doesn’t look good obviously. … You never know what can happen. The main thing is to get us in order and go win a ball game tomorrow.”

The White Sox held at least a share of the lead from July 24 until Wednesday and had not been this far back since late May. Their starting pitching has come up short and they have hit .153 (13 for 85) with runners in scoring position during the dozen-game slide.

“We didn’t play good enough. The effort was there. The work was there. Everything was there. We just didn’t get it done,” White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said.

Price (20-5) improved to 12-1 with a 2.26 ERA in his last 18 starts, allowing two runs and five hits in seven innings. He became the fourth 20-game winner of the season, joining Washington’s Gio Gonzalez (21-8), the New York Mets’ R.A. Dickey (20-6) and the Los Angeles Angels’ Jered Weaver (20-4).

“We still have a chance to get in with a good series against Baltimore … We need a little help from Texas, but we have to continue to win and hopefully we get back in like last year,” said Price, the first 20-game winner in Tampa Bay history.

B.J. Upton his hit his 27th and 28th homers, and Tampa Bay also got a solo shot from Ryan Roberts.

“You know you pretty much have to win them all,” Upton said, sizing up the Rays’ chances.

Sox starter Jose Quintana (6-6) got in trouble before the game was barely three minutes old, giving up a leadoff triple to Desmond Jennings and Upton’s two-run homer.Roberts hit a two-out homer in the fourth made it 3-0. The White Sox rallied in the bottom half when Alex Rios delivered an RBI single and Dayan Viciedo hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly.Upton’s leadoff double in the fifth finished Quintana, who allowed four runs and six hits in four innings. Evan Longoria hit an RBI double and Ben Francisco added a sacrifice fly off reliever Nate Jones to make it 5-2. Upton homered again in the ninth against Addison Reed.

NOTES—Pierzynski had his family at the game. He is eligible for free agency and this might have been his final home game in Chicago. Pierzynski, who came to the Sox in 2005, said he’d love to finish his career here but understands that might not happen. He’s had a career-best 27 homers….Rays C Jose Molina (right quadriceps strain) was out of starting lineup for fifth straight game but caught the bottom of the ninth.

PHOENIX—No 100th loss yet for Cubs as D-Backs collapse late.Josh Collmenter ended the season on a positive note despite failing to get a victory in his final outing.Collmenter held the Cubs to one run over fine innings, but they beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-2 on Sunday afternoon.It was the Cubs only win in an NL West Stadium this season.Collmenter turned a 2-1 lead over the Diamondbacks bullpen in the sixth but it didn’t last long.Anthony Rizzo and Alfonso Soriano singled with one out in the sixth against Bryan Shaw (1-6). Starlin Castro was safe when first baseman Mike Jacobs couldn’t pick up his grounder down the line, and the error loaded the bases.After Mike Zagurski struck out Luis Valbuena, Matt Albers relieved. Pinch hitter Dave Sappelt hit a grounder that Jacobs scooped, but the throw to Albers covering first base was a half-second late(replays showed Sappelt was really out)but that infield hit made it 2-all. Albers then hit Anthony Recker with a pitch to force home the go-ahead run and Bryan LaHair singled to right to make it 5-2.The Cubs added an unearned run in the seventh on a three-base throwing error by Brad Bergesen, the Diamondbacks’ fifth of seven pitchers, and another error two batters later by third baseman Cody Ransom.DeJesus homered to right off Takashi Saito in the ninth for the final run.

“We gave up seven runs and three of them were earned,” said Arizona manager Kirk Gibson. “That’s pretty tough. We can be frustrated but the reality of it is they had three earned runs out of seven. It wasn’t a very clean game from the seventh inning on.”

Rizzo had three hits as the Cubs snapped a seven-game losing streak overall and a 19-game road losing streak against the NL West dating back to the final game of last season. The win was the Cubs second in their past 13 games overall.

“If we’re going to win one, it might as well be the last one on the west coast,” said Cubs manager Dale said. “It wasn’t the prettiest thing ever.”

Chris Rusin (2-3) scattered three hits, allowing two runs – one earned – with two walks and four strikeouts for his first win since September 14 against Pittsburgh.Rizzo doubled home DeJesus in the first against Collmenter for a 1-0 lead.The Diamondbacks scored twice in the bottom half. Ransom drove in a run with an infield single and another scored on Recker’s error for dropping Rusin’s throw home for a would-be force out.Collmenter went five innings, allowing a run on six hits with two strikeouts.

“I thought we would be able to get to their guy, but they did a good job from the first inning on,” Collmenter said.

The Cubs, sitting on 99 losses, need to sweep their three-game home series against Houston to avoid becoming the first club to lose 100 games since 1966.

NOTES—Castro came up limping after turning a double play in the eighth but remained in the game. … Aaron Hill went 1 for 3 to move into fifth place on the Diamondbacks’ single-season hits list with 180. … Darwin Barney, whose 141-game errorless streak was snapped on Friday, returned to the lineup after an off day on Saturday. … Arizona 1B Paul Goldschmidt missed his third straight game with a sore back. … RHP Jason Berken (0-2) will be the next to try and keep the Cubs from their 100th loss when he takes the mound Monday night against RHP Lucas Harrell (10-11). Berken will be making his fourth start since he was claimed off waivers from Baltimore on Sept. 7. … Arizona LHP Wade Miley (16-11) will face Colorado LHP Drew Pomeranz (1-9) on Monday. Miley is tied with Jason Jennings, the 2002 NL Rookie of the Year, for the most wins by an NL rookie since 1986.

PHOENIX—Trevor Cahill’s up-and-down first season with the Arizona Diamondbacks ended on a high note.The right-hander threw a four-hitter in his third career complete game in an 8-2 rout of the reeling Cubs on Saturday night, adding to their futility in the NL West.Cahill (13-12), 4-1 in his final five starts of the season, struck out a season-high nine and walked three. He was two outs shy of his third career shutout when Alfonso Soriano hit his 32nd home run of the season in the ninth.

“It’s good, kind of momentum for next year,” Cahill said. “Even though we’re out of it, if we can play good baseball for the last four games, it will just give us a whole mindset going into next year.”

Justin Upton hit a booming two-run homer onto the second deck in left field in the fifth and had an RBI single Arizona’s three-run first. Aaron Hill went 3 for 4 with two RBIs. He doubled in a run in the first and singled in one in the second off Justin Germano (2-10), loser of eight straight starts.The Cubs fell to 0-18 in road games against the NL West. They have one more chance to end that streak, in the series finale on Sunday.The pitiful Cubs have lost seven in a row, 11 of 12, and 99 for the season.

“At this point we are trying to win four games out of four right now,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “A lot of ways it is important because if we lose tomorrow we are going to lose 100 games. That is the bottom line. Tomorrow is as important as any game we play, West Coast or whatever. The bottom line is we have to win tomorrow not to lose 100 games.”

Germano lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up seven runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts, a walk and a hit batter.By going nine, Cahill reached 200 innings pitched for the second year in a row.

“To get there is kind of a sweet even number,” he said.

He even had a career-high two RBIs, doubling his total for the season. He drew a four-pitch, bases loaded walk from Lendy Castillo with two outs in the fifth and singled home Mike Jacobs from second in seventh. Jacobs barely evaded the catcher Wellington Castillo’s tag on the throw from the right fielder David DeJesus.

“I wasn’t really thinking about anything other than pitching and I kind of threw the bat out there and it fell in,” Cahill said.

Cahill, a sinking fastball specialist who was acquired from Oakland last offseason, had shutouts in his other two complete games — against San Diego on June 8 and for the Athletics against Kansas City on Aug. 2, 2019.Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said Cahill’s potential is to be better, perhaps much better.

“I told him at a bullpen in Colorado he should win 15 games easy. I thought he could be a 20-game winner,” Gibson said, “but there are some things that he does within games when he gets wild, he hits guys, he walks guys and he gets in trouble. If we can eliminate that somehow I thought he could do much better than he has. … When he’s throwing the ball over the plate he’s very dominant all the time.”

Cahill got run support in a hurry in his final start of the season for the Diamondbacks, who were eliminated from playoff contention when the St. Louis Cardinals won Friday night.Adam Eaton led off the Arizona first with a soft single to center, took second on Gerardo Parra’s sacrifice bunt, then scored when Hill doubled to left. Hill had two doubles in the Diamondbacks’ 8-3 win in the series opener Friday night.Upton singled Hill home, advanced to third on Ryan Wheeler’s two-out single, and scored when Jacobs, filling in for Paul Goldschmidt at first, singled to center. The Diamondbacks added a run in the second when Eaton singled, took second on Parra’s ground out and scored on Hill’s single.Arizona got three more in the fifth. Hill singled with one out, then Upton hit the first pitch well into the second deck down the left field line for his 19th home run. Miguel Montero was hit by a pitch and Wheeler walked. Germano seemed to be out of the jam when he got John McDonald to pop out for the second out and bring up Cahill. But the Cubs right-hander walked the Arizona pitcher on four pitches to bring home Hill and make it 7-0.

NOTES—Eaton broke his right wrist when he was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning. Recovery time is estimated at 6 to 8 weeks. … Darwin Barney was out of the Cubs lineup one day after his streak of 141 games without an error ended. Barney’s streak tied the major league record for second baseman. … Goldschmidt was out for the second game in a row with a sore back. … Hill’s 43 doubles ties him with Goldschmidt for most on the team…. Cahill set a career high in strikeouts with 155.

Matt Moore pitched one-hit ball into the sixth, Matt Joyce homered twice and the Tampa Bay Rays stayed three games behind in the chase for the second AL wild card Saturday by beating the sliding White Sox 10-4.Tampa Bay, with nine wins in 10 games, remained three games out of the second wild card behind Oakland, which beat Seattle 7-4 Saturday.Moore (11-11) went 5 1-3 innings with two walks and four strikeouts. Jeff Keppinger and Chris Gimenez also homered for the Rays.Whith the White Sox trailing 10-0 in the eighth, pinch-hitter Orlando Hudson hit a grand slam off reliever Chris Archer – the Sox fourth hit all day.Chris Sale (17-8) gave up five runs and seven hits in just 3 1-3 innings, his shortest start of the season. Detroit held off Minnesota 6-4 to regian a two game leadc in the AL Central.

So now, IF:*Detroit finishes 0-4, the Sox would need to go 2-2 to tie, or 3-1 to win the Division.

*Detroit finishes 1-3, the Sox must go 3-1 to tie or 4-0 to win the Division.

*Detroit finishes 2-2, the Sox must go 4-0 to tie.

*Detroit finishes 3-1, they win the A.L.Central and the Sox would be eliminated.

DEKALB—Leighton Settle ran for 152 yards and three touchdowns, and Northern Illinois ran its home winning streak to 18 games Saturday with a 55-24 victory over Central Michigan in both teams’ Mid-American Conference opener.Settle opened the scoring with an 11-yard run in the first quarter before adding a 6-yard TD in the second. In the fourth, he ran 46 yards down the sideline to help seal the victory for the Huskies (4-1), who closed the game on a 31-3 run.Jordan Lynch threw for 215 yards and a touchdown and added 144 yards rushing, and he and Keith Harris Jr. each scored on the ground. Mathew Sims kicked two field goals and ran 14 yards for a score on a fake field-goal attempt.Ryan Radcliff threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns, including a 92-yarder to Titus Davis, for the Chippewas (2-2), and Zurlon Tipton added a rushing score.

EVANSTON—On a perfect mid-morning/early afternoon on the North Shore, Northwestern improved to 5-0 for the third time in the last five seasons with a 44-29 tougher than it could have been win over Indiana. The Hoosiers hung tough for the first quarter with both quarterbacks Cameron Coffman and Trevor Siemian getting intercepted, . The Wildcats got on the board as QB/RB Kain Colter ran it in from the Indiana 8 with 5:52 left in the half.It was the first of four TD’s(three in the first half) for Colter. The Cats(5-0)dominated the second period with Jeff Budzien booting field goals of 44 and 34 yards, sandwiched around another 8 yd TD by Colter and it was 20-0 at halftime.NU took the second half kickoff and marched 75 yards in 7 plays with Colter avoiding three tackles and scoring from the 15. The Hoosiers got some momentum helped by a Cats turnover. Stephen Houston capped a quick 75 yard drive with a 20 yard run,on which he broke away twice.NU was moving the ball on their next series,but Venric Mark had the ball knocked away and Indiana recovered at their own 36. Backup QB Nate Sudfeld started to pick the NU DB’s apart.He threw two passes to Hughes who made nice grabs,the second on the goal line from the NU 35 and the Hoosiers had a pair of TD’s within 2:15 to cut it to 27-14. But Northwestern answered quickly with a 75 yard drive,and Mark pushed it over from inside the one. But the Wildcats failed to keep the pressure on as they missed three tackles on Tevin Coleman who returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards and just like that, it was 34-21. Budzien kicked a 29 yd field goal after Demetrius Fields(wide open)dropped a would be TD pass. It was NU 37-Indiana 21 after three quarters.
NU’s defense started to collapse a bit. They’re DB’s begun to get torched. D’Angelo  Roberts capped a 69 yd drive(in just 2:10)with a score and the Hoosiers got to within 8 after a great play fake by Sudfeld who pitched to Kofi Hughes who ran it it untouched. Now 37-29 with still 14:06 to go! The NU defense woke up and got a three and out. Colter than led a 62 yard drive,and scored his fourth TD of the day,from the 22 Indiana again drove deep(to the Cats 4,but after a false start penalty,Sudfeld air mailed a pass out of the end zone,giving the Cats the ball back.After picking up a first down and forcing Indiana to use all three of their time outs, they ran out the clock.

NOTES—NU had 704 total net yards on offense,which is a new school record…Attendance was 33,129….The Wildcats are at Penn State next Saturday.

LES

CHAMPAIGN—After last week’s debacle against Louisiana Tech, the Fighting Illini got trashed at Home by a team on a rebound from an embarressing off season.Matt McGloin threw for 211 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more scores to lead Penn State to a 35-7 win over Illinois Saturday in the schools’ Big Ten opener.Sophomore running back Zach Zwinak added 100 yards and two touchdowns for Penn State (3-2). The Nittany Lions forced three turnovers and held the Illini (2-3) scoreless for the first 34 minutes.Linebacker Mike Mauti intercepted Illini quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase twice.The first came on the Penn State goal line and Mauti returned it 99 yards near the end of the first half — but Penn State failed to score. The second set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Zwinak that put the game out of reach at 35-7.Scheelhaase threw for 270 yards.

NOTES—Plenty was brought up during the week about Illini coach Tim Beckman and other coaching staff members going to State College, over the summer to try to recruit Penn State players when the NCAA gave PSU players freedom to transfer without being forced to sit out.Beckman and Penn State coach Bill O’Brien did not chat on the field prior to the game and their postgame handshake was frosty to say the least.