Chicago ? Finally, a Royals-White Sox game without any trouble.

Frank Thomas foiled a shift with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning, and fans were too busy trying to keep warm to make mischief Wednesday night as Chicago beat Kansas City, 4-3.

“It was nice to play a baseball game in Chicago without a fan running on the field,” Mike Sweeney said. “Tonight was the way baseball should be played.”

The last two times the Royals played in Chicago, a fan had run on the field and attacked someone near first base. Royals coach Tom Gamboa was pummeled in September, and umpire Laz Diaz was attacked Tuesday night.

But Wednesday, baseball was back to being the focus at U.S. Cellular Field.

“I had no question we would play and that security would do a good job,” Royals manager Tony Pena said. “I didn’t even worry about that.”

Some of his players did, though.

“I heard the fans starting to get excited, and the first thing I did was look to see if a fan was on the field,” Sweeney said. “It shouldn’t have to be like that.”

Diaz wasn’t hurt in Tuesday night’s assault, and was behind home plate Wednesday. There was a noticeable increase in security around the park, with 16 guards ringing the field during the half-inning breaks. Guards also stood near both dugouts, while others roamed the stands.

Chicago security officers Brian Williams, right, and Matt Evans, left, keep watch at U.S. Cellular Field. The White Sox replaced the traditional single foul-ball girl with two security guards as part of increased security measures for Wednesday's game between Chicago and Kansas City. The Royals lost for just the second time this season, 4-3.

Announcements warning fans to stay off the field were made throughout the game, and White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko made a plea before the game asking fans to behave. Major league baseball officials also were on hand to make sure there were no problems.

But with a gametime temperature of 50 — 34 degrees colder than Tuesday night — and a blustery wind making it feel even chillier, there were only about 7,000 fans at the park.

“You come to a game and you want to have fun and you want the fans to have fun,” said Tom Gordon, who pitched two innings for his first victory with the White Sox.

“I think that’s what happened tonight. It was a good night for fans, a good night for us. I think everybody had fun,” said Gordon (1-1).

The only rudeness fans showed was to White Sox reliever Damaso Marte, and that was after he gave up a two-run homer to Angel Berroa to tie the game at 3 in the eighth inning.

Jon Garland had pitched a gem, scattering three hits over seven innings to give Chicago a 3-1 lead, but Marte came in and promptly blew it. After giving up a leadoff walk to Brent Mayne, Marte served up the homer on his first pitch to Berroa.

It was Berroa’s first career home run.

The White Sox had blown a lead late Tuesday night, too, and they were determined not to do it again.

Joe Crede led off the ninth with a single over third baseman Joe Randa. Miguel Olivo then laid down what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt. But Jason Grimsley (0-1) threw the ball away, giving the White Sox runners at second and third.

Pena put on a shift, replacing right fielder Dee Brown with Mendy Lopez and giving Kansas City five infielders. The Royals then intentionally walked D’Angelo Jimenez to load the bases.

“We had a sinkerball pitcher and we were looking for a ground ball,” Pena said.

Jose Valentin popped out, but Thomas lined a ball perfectly to right field. Center fielder Michael Tucker had to chase after the ball, with the wind carrying it just far enough to give Graffanino the time to score.

“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good,” Thomas said. “We’ll take the win against these guys any way we can because these guys are running away with the division. Somebody’s got to catch them.”

Notes: Magglio Ordonez extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a ground-rule, RBI double. … After giving up a leadoff single, Garland retired 17 of his next 19 batters, including 12 straight. … Despite the loss, the Royals matched the 1978 squad for the best start in franchise history.