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Byrd sharp again as Indians blank White Sox

Apr 14, 2007 - 10:55 PM CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Paul Byrd turned in another strong start for the Cleveland Indians, only this time it counted.

Byrd shut down the Chicago White Sox for six innings and then turned it over to the bullpen as the Indians posted a 4-0 victory.

Byrd (1-0) allowed only five hits while striking out five and walking two. He got out of trouble in both the fifth and sixth innings.

In his first start of the season on April 6, Byrd was within an out of an abbreviated no-hitter but after three different delays, the game was snowed out with two outs in the top of the fifth inning with the Indians holding a 4-0 lead over the Seattle Mariners.

"I was very frustrated about that," Byrd said. "It's something that has been in the back of my mind since then." Byrd was nearly as sharp against the White Sox and able to work out of jams when he had to.

Byrd issued both of his walks in the fifth inning with one out but he got a pair of ground balls to get out of the frame unscathed.

In the sixth inning, the White Sox had runners on first and third with no outs but Byrd struck out Jermaine Dye and got Joe Crede and A.J. Pierzynski to pop out to end the threat.

"I was thinking double play ball and giving up only one run," Byrd said. "Even after I got Dye out, I was still thinking about a double play ball."

"We had first and third, but we couldn't get the run in," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We had an opportunity a couple of times but we couldn't pull the trigger."

Chicago finished the game 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

"We had a couple of chances, but we didn't get the job done," Crede said. "Byrd kept us off-balance like he usually does and was throwing his off-speed pitches for strikes."

Ryan Garko and Josh Barfield gave Byrd all the offense he would need with home runs in the second inning off of Chicago starter John Danks (0-2).

"I had Garko 0-2," Denks said "And when I give up an 0-2 homer, it bothers me a little bit. I hung a curveball to Barfield and he showed what a big league hitter will do with an 0-1 curveball."

Garko, who had a career high four hits yesterday, has taken advantage of the playing time he has been given due to a strained left quadriceps that has sidelined catcher Victor Martinez for the past week.

"It's been a good opportunity for me," Garko said. "I'm not trying to do much. I've been working with (hitting coach) Derek Shelton and putting together some quality at-bats."

Jason Michaels had an RBI triple and then scored on an error by Chicago second baseman Tadahito Iguchito in the seventh to make it 4-0.

Joe Borowski picked up his fourth save in as many situations as he joined relievers Tom Mastny, Aaron Fultz, and Rafael Betancourt in holding the White Sox scoreless over the last three innings.

"The bullpen did an outstanding job," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "We had to use quite a few of them, because of situations, but everybody came in and did their job."

The White Sox fell to 3-2 on their six-game road trip.