 Buehrle pitched eight innings to earn his 10th win, Alexei Ramirez homered in a four-run first, and Chicago cruised past the Baltimore
Orioles 6-3 Thursday night.Juan Pierre had three hits and two
RBIs for the White Sox, who took three of four from the Orioles to
complete a 6-1 road trip. Chicago is 58-59, but that's good enough
to be four games behind the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.
"Any other division we're looking at offseason plans like
fishing. But in this division were still in the middle of it,"
Pierre said. "Without a doubt the best road trip we have had all
year. Everything clicked all throughout the lineup."
Pierre led off the first inning with a single and Ramirez hit
Chris Tillman's eighth pitch into the left-field seats. Paul Konerko
doubled and scored on a double by Carlos Quentin, and A.J.
Pierzynski followed with another double to make it 4-0 on the 16th
offering by Tillman, who needed 32 pitches to retire the side.
That was enough support for Buehrle, who hadn't given up more
than three runs in a game since April 22.
"With Buehrle on the mound throwing the ball the way he has been
the last few months, you feel comfortable," manager Ozzie Guillen
said.
Buehrle (10-5) gave up three runs and six hits, struck out six
and walked none. The left-hander has allowed three runs or fewer in
18 straight starts, matching the club record set by Frank Smith in
1909, according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau.
Buehrle is 4-0 in his last five starts, and his run of 10-win
seasons is a franchise record. In this one, the early cushion didn't
hurt.
"You still to go out there and pitch, but any time you get runs
early in the game it helps out, especially before you take the
mound," Buehrle said. "The goal I always go for is to go deep in the
game, have us score runs and have the bullpen protect your leads."
Sergio Santos worked a perfect ninth for his 25th save. Santos
set a major league record by starting the season with 25 straight
scoreless appearances on the road, breaking the mark set by Mariano
Rivera in 2005. He has a 30-game scoreless run on the road over two
seasons.
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Nick Markakis hit his 100th career home run for the Orioles, who
have lost seven of nine. Tillman (3-5) didn't get an out until his
20th pitch and ended up giving up six runs and eight hits in 2 2-3
innings.
"You see Buehrle out there, and as soon as it goes 4- and 6-0, it
just plays right into his hands," Orioles manager Buck Showalter
said. "He takes your aggressiveness and uses it against you. He has
so many things to speed you up and slow you down. If you had to pick
a guy to pitch when you get in that situation, he's a blueprint."
Tillman escaped damage in the second despite giving up a leadoff
double to Pierre but couldn't get out of the third. Adam Dunn walked
and took third on a single by Brent Morel, who took an extra base
when Markakis attempted to throw out Dunn at third. Pierre followed
with a two-run single off the glove of first baseman Chris Davis for
a 6-0 lead.
In the bottom half, Nolan Reimold doubled and scored on a single
by J.J. Hardy before Markakis launched a shot over the right-field
scoreboard.
After Baltimore put runners on second and third with two outs in
the fifth, Buehrle struck out Markakis. The Orioles had only one
base-runner the rest of the way -- Reimold, who beat out a grounder
with two outs in the seventh.
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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