Recap: Chicago WSox vs. Kansas City
Sports Network | August 13, 2008
Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Mark Buehrle threw seven shutout innings, and Jermaine Dye finished with a double and run batted in for Chicago, which shut out Kansas City for the second game in a row, 4-0.
On Tuesday, in the opener of this three-game set, Javier Vazquez blanked the Royals for eight innings. Buehrle (10-10) followed that performance by giving up just five hits while walking none and striking out five. Over his past two outings, both wins, Buehrle has allowed just one run in 14 innings pitched.
Paul Konerko and Ken Griffey, Jr. each finished 1-for-3 with an RBI for the White Sox, who have won three of four. Chicago also maintained its half-game lead over Minnesota in the AL Central, as the Twins beat the Yankees earlier Wednesday.
Luke Hochevar (6-11) got tagged with the loss despite a solid start in which he allowed three runs on five hits in seven frames. The former number one overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft struck out four and walked one in the loss. Billy Butler had two of the five hits for Kansas City, which has lost six of seven.
The White Sox backed Buehrle with two runs in the first inning. Orlando Cabrera led off with a single and went to second on Tony Pena's throwing error. A.J. Pierzynski then sacrificed Cabrera to third, and Dye doubled to center to bring the run in. Later, Griffey singled to plate Dye for a 2-0 lead.
Consecutive singles from Juan Uribe and Chris Getz began the home fifth, putting runners on the corners. A ground out put them both in scoring position for Pierzynski, who drove in Uribe with a ground out to short.
Buehrle, meanwhile, worked out of a few jams. After putting runners in scoring position with two outs in the second, he struck out John Buck to end the threat. In the following frame, Kansas City again had runners in scoring position, with one out -- but Buehrle fanned David DeJesus and Jose Guillen to escape.
The Chicago starter set the Royals down in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh before Octavio Dotel took over for the eighth and worked a 1-2-3 inning.
Konerko's RBI single in the home eighth plated Pierzynski for the final White Sox run, and Bobby Jenks was perfect in the ninth to close out the game.
The White Sox last won consecutive shutouts on April 12-13, both against Detroit...On Wednesday, Chicago agreed to terms with infielder Gordon Beckham on a minor league contract. Beckham was the club's first-round pick and the eighth overall selection of the 2008 draft. The University of Georgia product hit .411 with 28 homers and 77 runs batted in this past season...Hochevar has lost his past three starts.
