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Colon pitches White Sox to brisk win in DH opener

Apr 29, 2009 - 12:30 AM CHICAGO(AP) -- Behind a strong start from Bartolo Colon, the Chicago White Sox won in an unusual way.

Colon pitched seven effective innings and Paul Konerko hit a two-run double, leading Chicago to a brisk 2-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners in the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday.

The White Sox won despite having as many hits (two) as errors.

"That's a miracle," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said.

Colon bounced back after struggling in his previous start at Baltimore. The burly right-hander allowed only an unearned run and four hits, pitching out of a jam in the seventh. He struck out six and walked one in a game that took just 1 hour, 52 minutes - the fastest in the majors this season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Bobby Jenks pitched around third baseman Josh Fields' error in the ninth for his fourth save.

Chris Jakubauskas (1-3) was the hard-luck loser in his first career complete game, a two-hitter. He retired the side in order every inning except the fourth, walking one and striking out four in eight innings.

In his previous outing, Jakubauskas allowed six runs in 3 1-3 innings of a loss to Tampa Bay.

"I thought Jakubauskas was outstanding, especially coming off of the game last time, to rebound from that," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said.

White Sox reliever Matt Thornton pitched a perfect eighth and Jenks a scoreless ninth. With runners on first and second, he struck out pinch-hitter Mike Sweeney swinging and got pinch-hitter Wladimir Balentien on a fly to center.

The game was a makeup of Monday night's rainout. Seattle right-hander Felix Hernandez was scheduled to face John Danks in the nightcap.

Colon (2-1) allowed five runs and eight hits in three innings of Thursday's 6-2 loss at Baltimore, his shortest start since July 23, 2007.

Colon said the difference from his last start was pregame preparation.

"In the bullpen I felt warm, I felt prepared. In my last start in Baltimore I didn't feel like I warmed up enough before I started the game, but today I felt good. I felt really good coming out of the bullpen," he said.

Colon cruised through the first six innings, but ran into trouble in the seventh. After a one-out walk to Russell Branyan, Jose Lopez reached safely on an error by second baseman Brent Lillibridge.

Rob Johnson followed with an RBI double, but Colon minimized the damage. Franklin Gutierrez fouled out and so did Yuniesky Betancourt - after just missing a three-run homer down the left-field line.

Jakubauskas, making his third start in place of injured Ryan Rowland-Smith, retired his first 10 batters. He walked Fields in the fourth, then allowed a single to Carlos Quentin. With two outs, Konerko doubled down the left-field line, scoring Fields and Quentin.

"One negative. The ball I left out over the plate to Konerko and he hit it down the line," Jakubauskas said. "It's just one of those things. I missed my spot and it came back to bite us."

Wakamatsu couldn't tell if a fan interfered with Konerko's double, which would have prevented Quentin from scoring.

"Somebody said a fan interfered with that. We couldn't see that from the dugout," Wakamatsu said.

Ken Griffey Jr. returned to Chicago after playing 41 games for the White Sox last season and finished 1 for 4 with a double. He had three home runs and 18 RBIs in 41 games while helping Chicago win the AL Central title last year.

Notes: DH Jim Thome (sore heel) didn't play. Guillen hopes to have the slugger back when the White Sox open a three-game series in Texas on Friday. ... 2B Chris Getz (broken middle finger on his right hand) took some batting practice before the game and said it went fine. Getz said the swelling had gone down and he hopes to play Wednesday. He has missed three consecutive games. ... Mariners C Kenji Johjima, on the 15-day disabled list since April 16 with a strained right hamstring, could return May 1 when he's eligible. Currently rehabbing in extended spring training in Arizona, Johjima did some catching and running on Monday and reported no problems.