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Buehrle pitches White Sox past Pirates

Jun 17, 2007 - 3:34 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Mark Buehrle is getting hot. Buehrle tossed eight strong innings, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 6-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

Buehrle (4-3) allowed just one run on nine hits and one intentional walk with four strikeouts to win his second consecutive start.

In those two starts, Buehrle has gone 16 innings, allowing just two runs on 15 hits. This after going his previous seven starts without a win.

"I've said before, I would rather the other four guys (in the rotation) get a win and I lose every time," Buehrle said. "I'll give that up any day, but obviously with the way we have been struggling ... the last two games I've been given six runs and six runs. Some guys haven't been getting the runs I have been getting the past couple outings, and that makes it a little more difficult.

"It's got to turn around sometime. It can't be this miserable all season long."

Josh Fields provided all the offense Buehrle needed with two hits - including a two-run homer - and three RBI.

"He's not here because he will get a gold glove he's here because he can hit," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said of Fields. "And hopefully games like this let him feel a little more comfortable and let him feel a little better about himself for his career. Games like that can pick you up and put you over the top and hopefully he can do that."

Buehrle's counterpart on the mound was John Van Benschoten, who was recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis and making just his sixth major league start - and first since 2004.

Van Benschoten (0-1) showed no signs of early jitters as he cruised through a 1-2-3 first inning. He ran into troubles in the second, however.

The 27-year-old righthander issued a one-out walk to Jermaine Dye and a single to Alex Cintron. They were followed by an RBI groundout by ex-Pirate Rob Mackowiak and an RBI double by Fields to make it 2-0.

The Pirates answered in the bottom of the inning when Adam LaRoche doubled into the right-field corner with one out and scored two batters later on Ryan Doumit's single. But that was all they could muster against Buehrle.

"He threw another game real well, and they gave him a few runs on the board to give him something to work with," Guillen said of Buehrle. "Like I have said in the past, if we score some runs, we're going to win some games."

Pittsburgh's best chance to tack on more against the lefthander came in the fourth, when LaRoche led off with a double but was left stranded at third.

"It seemed like when we got a little bit of a rally going, we couldn't get the big hit," said Pittsburgh bench coach Jim Lett, who WAs subbing for manager Jim Tracy while Tracy attends his son's college graduation in California. "(Buehrle) was throwing a cutter inside on the righthanders and that's why you saw so many jam shots. Then he'd use his changeup, he'd get you looking outside on the changeup and then all of a sudden he'd throw that cutter in."

Van Benschoten wasn't much worse than Buehrle, lasting 5 2/3 innings and surrendering just the two runs on three hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

"Comparing myself back to '04, and getting the call-up in August, I thought I was better prepared now," Van Benschoten said. "As this year has progressed, I have just felt better and better."

Buehrle was given some insurance in the seventh when Mackowiak led off with a bunt single off Pirates reliever John Grabow and Fields followed by blasting a two-run homer into the left-field bleachers to make it 4-1.

Fields, Chicago's 2004 first-round pick who was called up June 6, has five hits and three RBI in his past three games.

"The last two games, I felt good," Fields said. "I got a couple hits (yesterday) and I was definitely building momentum into today, and I felt good today. I got a couple good pitches (today) that I finally just made good contact with instead of missing."

Chicago's fifth run came on a sacrifice fly by Mackowiak that scored A.J. Pierzynski in the eighth. Mackowiak reached base twice, drove in two and scored a run.

The White Sox tacked on their final run in the eighth when Tadahito Iguchi doubled off off Pittsburgh's Tony Armas, scoring pinch hitter Andy Gonzalez to make it 6-1.

LaRoche had three hits for the Pirates, who dropped to 5-5 all time against the White Sox in Pittsburgh.

"You've got to give it to Buehrle, he threw a pretty good game," LaRoche said. "I think he's got five different pitches and he just didn't fall into any patterns. He was up there mixing it up, he wasn't doubling up on any pitches and it can be tough to get in the groove (for hitters)."