Buehrle dominates Royals in Chicago's 4-1 win

[July 03, 2009]  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Mark Buehrle was dominant into the ninth inning, allowing six hits and a run, and the surging Chicago White Sox beat Kansas City 4-1 Thursday night for their sixth victory in a row.

Now 20-8 lifetime against KC, Buehrle started the ninth with a four-hit shutout but failed to get his first complete game since May 2, 2008, when Alberto Callaspo doubled and scored on David DeJesus' one-out double.

He was relieved by Bobby Jenks, who got the last two outs for his 19th save in 21 chances for the White Sox, who have won 10 of 12 and 14 of their last 19 on the road.

Until the ninth, the 30-year-old Buehrle had been dominant. He did not issue a walk and had only one strikeout, a season low in 8 1-3 innings.

Jayson Nix hit a solo home run off Bruce Chen (0-2) as the Royals lost their sixth in eight games. They've scored only three runs in their last three games, all losses.

Chen went six-plus innings plus two batters and gave up two runs on five hits. Making his second major league start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in late 2007, Chen walked one and struck out five and did not allow a hit until Nix sent a 2-2 pitch sailing into the visitors bullpen leading off the fourth.

The left-hander, looking for his first victory since Oct. 2, 2005, was not threatened again until Jim Thome doubled under David DeJesus' glove leading off the seventh and Paul Konerko followed with a shallow single.

Reliever Ron Mahay came in and got a double-play grounder from A.J. Pierzynski that allowed Thome to make it 2-0. Scott Podsednik's RBI single off Mahay made it 3-0 in the eighth. Gordon Beckham drove in the fourth run in the ninth.

The Royals helped Buehrle by running themselves into two embarrassing double plays. Willie Bloomquist singled with one out in the first but was doubled off first after Billy Butler flied out to center field. Then Mark Teahen singled with one out in the second and failed to get back to the bag in time when Miguel Olivo flied out to right fielder Jermaine Dye.

Then the White Sox committed a base-running blunder of their own in the fifth when Pierzynski was thrown out trying to advance from first to second on Beckham's fly to deep center.

NOTES: X-rays on Alexei Ramirez's right middle finger were negative but manager Ozzie Guillen was not sure how soon the White Sox shortstop would return to the lineup. Ramirez was hurt on Wednesday in the game at Cleveland. ... The Royals went over the 1 million attendance mark, seven dates earlier than in 2008. ... The Royals have allowed only 67 home runs, the fewest in the league. ... It was Buehrle's 284th start, tying Joel Horlen for seventh in White Sox history.

[Associated Press; By DOUG TUCKER]

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