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Buehrle baffles Indians as White Sox win series

Jul 18, 2007 - 8:51 PM CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Mark Buehrle has been worth every penny thus far.

Buehrle pitched into the seventh inning Wednesday afternoon to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 5-1 triumph over the Cleveland Indians.

Paul Konerko belted a two-run homer and Rob Mackowiak had three hits for the struggling White Sox, who improved to 3-4 on their 11-game road trip.

But despite losing three of four games in Baltimore before coming to Cleveland, the White Sox took two of three from the Indians.

Chicago won, 11-10, in the series opener Monday night before squandering a two-run, ninth-inning lead in Tuesday's 6-5 loss. Buehrle, for one, thought the White Sox could have fared better.

"I thought we should have won three out of four in Baltimore and we could have swept here," Buehrle said.

Buehrle (7-5) has been brilliant since signing a four-year, $56 million contract July 8, yielding just three runs over two starts since inking the deal. He has allowed two earned runs or less in each of his last eight outings.

"It doesn't matter if I'm signed or not," Buehrle said. "I have to finish strong."

"I don't know if (Buehrle) is our savior, but every time he takes the mound, the expectations are high," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We know most of the time we'll have a good game."

The lefthanded Buehrle recorded a rare win against the heavy-hitting Indians on Wednesday, allowing one run and 10 hits with one walk and three strikeouts in 6 1/3 frames. It was his first win over Cleveland since July 16, 2005 - a span of eight starts. He was 0-3 with a 5.53 ERA in those games.

"As good a team as (the Indians) are, a lot of people are going to struggle against them," Buehrle said.

Although the Indians had a hit in every inning except the fourth, Buehrle kept them off balance with an assortment of slow breaking pitches while occasionally working in his fastball.

"Buehrle kept us off track all day long," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "We were never able to get anything going against him."

The Indians finally got to the White Sox ace in the seventh. Franklin Gutierrez led off with a double and scored on Grady Sizemore's one-out single. Casey Blake's single chased Buehrle, but lefthander Matt Thornton induced Victor Martinez to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Konerko's homer in the fourth off Jake Westbrook (1-5) gave the White Sox a 3-0 lead and capped an 11-pitch at-bat. He fouled off five pitches on a 3-2 count to keep the at-bat alive.

"I had one good swing all day," Konerko said. "I got lucky. The rest of the day was terrible."

Konerko's double-play ground ball with the bases loaded in the first plated Jerry Owens with Chicago's first run. Since June 1, Konerko is batting .318 (48-for-151) with 13 homers and 31 RBI.

Westbrook appeared to injure himself when he covered first base on the double-play ball. He paused behind the mound for several seconds but stayed in the game.

White Sox designated hitter Jim Thome, who played his first 12 seasons with the Indians, led off the fourth with a single and scored on Konerko's home run.

The inning continued on doubles by Mackowiak and Jermaine Dye, making it 4-0. Mackowiak added an RBI single in the eighth off Jensen Lewis.

The rough season continued for Westbrook, who allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings. The righthander's only win came on April 27, and he also was on the disabled with a strained left oblique from May 7-June 24.

An Indians spokesman said Westbrook was unavailable for comment because the pitcher had to tend to a personal matter.

"I don't want to speak for him," pitching coach Carl Willis said. "I feel that he's frustrated a bit, and sometimes he might be trying to do a little too much out there."

Cleveland's Ryan Garko extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a second-inning single.