If you wanted your last game of the season to encapsulate the most frustrating problems of the previous 161, it was (finally) your lucky day.

Phil Humber pitched beautifully, battling through Mark Lollo's inability to call a high strike and coming away with a career-high nine strikeouts. He allowed just one run over 6 2/3 innings, departed with a one-run lead ... and did not get the win.

The White Sox came to the plate eight times with runners in scoring position, and twice with the bases loaded. They did not come away with a single hit, and stranded what proved to be a key insurance run the fifth. They had a runner on third with one out, and Tyler Flowers and Dayan Viciedo both struck out to end the inning.

Chris Sale provided a flashback of the first month of the season, when he came in to face a favorable part of the lineup and gave up a double and a single. Following an inexplicable bunt, he intentionally walked one guy, and unintentionally walked two to score the tying and go-ahead runs.

Juan Pierre, the final batter of the season, lined out to right with a runner on second, finishing his Sox career with an 0-for-5 afternoon, and the worst WPA of the game.

The guy on deck? Alejandro De Aza, who went 2-for-3 with a walk to finish the year with an even .400 OBP. Hopefully he will be leading off next inning.

One-hundred and ninety-one days from now.

Record: 79-83 | Box score | Play-by-play

When Ramon Castro caught Mark Buehrle for the first time, it turned into a perfect game.

When Don Cooper managed Mark Buehrle for the first time, it turned into a perfect night.

Buehrle wrapped up his current White Sox contract with seven scoreless innings, allowing his offense to give him a two-run lead and affording Cooper the opportunity to send him out in style.

When Buehrle headed to the mound for the top of the eighth, nobody followed him. When he arrived, he discovered there was no game ball ... until Cooper brought it to him. They shared a moment and a hug in the middle of the diamond, and the crowd gave him a standing ovation as he left the field, which prompted Buehrle to indulge the crowd with a curtain call.

And really, it was a perfect Buehrle start. He only recorded one 1-2-3 inning, and he had to pitch around two errors that turned mundane situations into scoring opportunities. On both occasions, Gordon Beckham failed to catch a ball for a forceout, which put runners on first and second with nobody out.

When it happened in the third inning, Buehrle turned to his second-oldest friend, the double play. Alexei Ramirez ranged to his left, and made an athletic play to get to second and start a 6-3 job. In his final frame, Buehrle had to get three guys out -- a shank to the shortstop, a near double-play to second, and a Mark Teahen groundout to third.

Buehrle exited with a two-run lead, and although Jesse Crain added a bit of tension by surrendering a leadoff homer to Mike McCoy to start the eighth, he and Chris Sale teamed up to nail down the 161st win for Buehrle, and the first for Cooper. Hopefully neither will be the last.

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After today's loss, the White Sox will finish the 2011 season with an under-.500 record, and they did it in classic style -- with little help from the offense.

Gavin Floyd pitched well, carrying a no-hitter through five innings and striking out 10 batters for the fifth time in his career. But in a twist, a great play by Alex Rios that preserved his no-hit bid might have cost him the game.

Rios robbed Billy Butler of a double with two outs in the fourth inning, running down his drive to the gap and running straight into a post in the fence. That gave him a face-and-shoulderburger, and he had to leave the game. Alejandro De Aza slid over to center, and Dayan Viciedo took his place in right.

So when Lorenzo Cain led off with a line drive to right that fell in front of Viciedo ... well, De Aza probably could've had that. In short succession, Floyd lost the no-hitter, the shutout and the game. Chris Getz singled to center, Alcides Escobar bunted them over, and Jarrod Dyson slashed a double down the first-base line to give the Royals a 2-0 lead.

That was the Royals' lone hit with runners in scoring position. In fact, they only had three at-bats with runners in scoring position, as Floyd came back from the bummer inning to throw eight strong innings.

Luis Mendoza countered Floyd with a great outing of his own, though. The White Sox bats weren't any more potent -- they went 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position, and it only counted for one run. Paul Konerko, who had developed a nasty bruise after taking a fastball to his elbow the previous at-bat, came up with runners on first and second and delivered a double down the left-field line. It didn't get down into the corner, so Alexei Ramirez could only make it to third. He would stay there, as Dayan Viciedo gave away an at-bat with a backwards K after an intentional walk to A.J. Pierzynski loaded the bases.

Record: 77-82 | Box score | Play-by-play

A White Sox starter finally had the answer for the Kansas City Royals' blazing bats, and the White Sox finally figured out how to win at home. Both were long overdue.

John Danks pitched six strong innings to end a disheartening season on a high note, throwing 7 1/3 strong innings to finish the season 8-12. In the process, he, Jesse Crain, Chris Sale and Sergio Santos combined to limit the Royals to just six hits -- the first time they finished with less than 10 in six head-to-head games.

Danks was perfect through 4 2/3, which gave the Sox time to post a crooked number against Everett Teaford. They struck for four during a pleasantly long bottom of the second, which included an Alex Rios two-run homer, a bases-loaded walk to Juan Pierre, and a sac fly by Alexei Ramirez.

That turned out to be enough by itself, even though Danks couldn't avoid his customary sixth-inning struggles. That's when he gave up all three runs he allowed, which included hits both authoritative (Melky Cabrera's two-run double) and weak (Eric Hosmer's poke through the 5.5 hole).

While Cabrera made it a game with his bat, he also deflated the tension with his baserunning. He knocked Danks out of the game with an infield single deep in the hole, but two batters (and pitchers) later, Sale picked him off to leave Hosmer at the plate. When Hosmer led off the next inning, he was no longer the go-ahead tying run.

Brent Morel provided the insurance, including a no-doubt solo shot in the fourth, and a blistered run-scoring fielder's choice in the eighth.

Record: 77-81 | Box score | Play-by-play

The White Sox returned to U.S. Cellular for a season-ending six-game homestand. They've played so poorly in their home digs, and based on how this one turned out, they may as well end the season now.

Zach Stewart received his first major-league butt-whooping, whlie the offense raised the white flag against Bruce Chen. Yes, this game truly had anything.

The bulk of the details of this game ring hollow, but to put it simply, Stewart couldn't throw much that wasn't grooved. He gave up nine runs on 12 hits over four innings, and four different Royals took him deep for four no-doubters. It was the first time a Sox pitcher allowed four home runs since Bartolo Colon on June 7, 2009.

Making matters worse, Stewart also committed a pair of throwing errors.

On the other side of the line score, Paul Konerko led off the seventh with a homer to left, which helped the Sox save a little bit of their dignity. They didn't have much else, as Chen and Vin Mazzaro combined to hold the Sox to two hits. Dayan Viciedo had the other one. It was an infield single.

Record: 76-81 | Box score | Play-by-play

Phil Humber gave up a pair of solo home runs before he even recorded his first out. The game got away from him in a similarly sudden fashion.

With two outs and nobody on in the fifth, Humber issued a full-count walk to Jack Hannahan. That ended a streak of 15 consecutive batters retired by Humber, and it became a problem with Ezequiel Carrera slashed a fly down the left-field line. Juan Pierre probably should've caught it, but he missed on his attempt at a running grab, and it bounced high along the wall and railing.

Pierre argued that a fan touched it, and after Ozzie Guillen lobbied on his behalf, the umpires convened and called it a fan-interfered double. Otherwise, Carrera was on third, and Hannahan would've scored.

But then they scored anyway, when Kosuke Fukudome lined a single to center. The White Sox trailed 4-2, and there was nothing enjoyable about the rest of it. Addison Reed didn't help -- he gave up a three-run homer to Asdrubal Cabrera (two runs charged to Humber), and an RBI single after that.

And Josh Kinney plunked a hitter after all -- but it was on a 1-2 count, and it was a slider to Jason Kipnis' foot. The only message that sent was, "Oops, let me get that base for you!"

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For about five minutes, it looked like Mark Buehrle was on the road to another tough loss. He returned to form through the first five innings -- staying away from the middle of the plate, picking off a runner, defending his position -- but when Travis Hafner's soaring fly to right barely cleared the right field wall, Buehrle found himself on the wrong end of a one-run game.

Fortunately, the Chicago bats came alive -- mostly the younger ones. They jumped on Ubaldo Jimenez a half-inning later, and created such a large cushion that last two innings were mostly spent seeing if the bullpen would retaliate for Tuesday night's HBPalooza.

They did not. Sox fans had to settle for a comfortable ninth inning instead.

Dayan Viciedo started the top of the seventh by drawing a one-out walk, after he fell behind 1-2. His seven-pitch plate appearance was followed by a one-pitch plate appearance by Brent Morel, who smashed a double off the left-center wall. Viciedo got a good read on it, and Jeff Cox waved him around. He slid safely into home while the throw came in wide of the plate to tie the game.

Gordon Beckham followed with a walk, and after a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Alejandro De Aza delivered with a line-drive single to center, scoring two runs and giving the Sox a 4-2 lead. It also gave De Aza his third consecutive two-RBI game.

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