Beckham, Teahen lead White Sox past Tigers

[August 14, 2010]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Gordon Beckham hit a three-run homer and Mark Teahen, fresh off the disabled list, added a two-run shot, helping the Chicago White Sox beat the slumping Detroit Tigers 8-4 on Friday night.

After losing five of seven to fall out of the AL Central lead, the White Sox received a timely visit from their favorite opponent. They are 7-2 against the Tigers this season and 65-36 against them since the start of 2005.

Mark Buehrle (11-9) allowed three runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings for Chicago (65-51), which is 41-18 since June 9 -- a surge that began with a 15-3 victory over the Tigers. Buehrle has won his last five decisions against Detroit.

Ryan Raburn and Brandon Inge homered for the Tigers (55-60), who are 7-23 since a July 11 loss to Minnesota dropped them out of first place. They are now 10 1/2 games behind the Twins, who lead the White Sox by one.

Chicago grabbed control with four runs in the fifth inning against Jeremy Bonderman (6-8).

Teahen, who had been out since May 31 with a broken right middle finger, and Alexei Ramirez singled with no outs. They moved up on A.J. Pierzynski's sacrifice and Teahen scored ahead of Bonderman's throw after the pitcher fell while fielding Mark Kotsay's infield tap. Beckham then homered to right-center field.

Beckham also tripled and scored in the seventh. One of baseball's top rookies in 2009, he is batting .379 with five homers and 19 RBIs in his last 28 games after getting off to a slow start.

Teahen connected in the sixth, hitting a drive to right on a 2-0 pitch from Bonderman after Paul Konerko walked with one out.

Bonderman allowed six runs and seven hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked one.

Raburn's homer in the seventh chased Buehrle, and a heavy rain fell as Sergio Santos warmed up. Santos allowed Gerald Laird's bunt single and, after an 82-minute rain delay, walked Austin Jackson. He escaped the jam by striking out Johnny Damon and getting Jhonny Peralta to ground out.

Inge, who came off the DL last week, hit a solo shot off Matt Thornton in the eighth for his first homer since May 30. It also snapped Thornton's string of 22 straight scoreless appearances.

Ramirez homered in the bottom half for the White Sox.

Teahen was Chicago's everyday third baseman before his injury but lost his job when Omar Vizquel played superbly during his absence. Saying Teahen is now a utility player, manager Ozzie Guillen used him in right field against Detroit.

NOTES: White Sox closer Bobby Jenks remained out with back spasms and Guillen said the team must decide soon whether to put him on the DL. ... Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera hit a run-scoring single in the sixth and has 50 RBIs in 51 road games. He leads the majors with 94 RBIs overall. ... Raburn, who also doubled and singled, entered with only three hits in 17 career at-bats against Buehrle.

[Associated Press]

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