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Buehrle blanks Twins as White Sox win

Jul 8, 2007 - 12:14 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- If Mark Buehrle indeed is headed out of the Windy City, he certainly has been impressive auditioning to the rest of baseball.

Buehrle delivered his sixth straight solid start Saturday, tossing eight scoreless innings to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

A three-time All-Star, Buehrle is eligible to become a free agent after this season and has openly stated his desire to stay with the White Sox.

But contract negotiations between the team and Buehrle's representatives reportedly stalled over the past week, leaving the veteran lefthander as an enticing commodity on the trade market.

"Personally for me, (a Buehrle trade) would be tough," White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko said. "I played with him for a long time and you don't want to see one of your friends go. But as a team you can always use a guy like him to try to win."

The 28-year-old Buehrle (6-4) clearly has not been distracted by the constant trade speculation, posting a 1.58 ERA over his last six outings. The southpaw was at his best Saturday, yielding six hits and two walks with one strikeout while throwing 71 of 111 pitches for strikes.

"(Buehrle) was consistent. I think he threw the ball unbelievably well," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He did a tremendous job once again."

Buehrle's performance was even more impressive considering the recent plight of Chicago's bullpen. The White Sox were swept in Friday's day-night doubleheader, allowing 32 combined runs while taxing their relievers for nine total innings.

"We needed it for our team and for our bullpen," White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "To give up thirty-some runs yesterday to only give up one run today is a huge lift."

It was a different story Saturday, as Buehrle made it easy for White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to avoid calling to the bullpen. The only Chicago reliever needed in this one was All-Star closer Bobby Jenks, who allowed a run but still managed to record his 23rd save.

Buehrle received all the offensive support he needed in the fourth inning, when the White Sox plated three runs against Twins starter Boof Bonser (5-6).

Jerry Owens led off the frame with a bunt single, stole second and advanced to third on Tadahito Iguchi's single. After Owens scored on Jim Thome's RBI groundout, Konerko belted Bonser's 0-2 offering over the left field wall to make it 3-0.

It was the team-leading 17th home run for Konerko, who is batting .360 (18-for-50) with five blasts in his last 14 games. Owens finished with two hits while Rob Mackowiak also singled for Chicago, which improved to 3-4 on its eight-game homestand.

Bonser pitched effectively, surrendering three runs and four hits over seven innings. The righthander walked two and struck out four but remained winless in his last five starts.

"(Bonser) located his fastball, made his pitches and gave us a chance," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He made one mistake and left a ball up on the two-run homer to Konerko."

Minnesota finally got on the board in the ninth, when Michael Cuddyer drew a one-out walk from Jenks and advanced to third on Justin Morneau's single. Torii Hunter lofted a sacrifice fly to plate Cuddyer and draw the Twins within 3-1, but Jason Kubel grounded out to end the contest.