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Marcum, Crede's error help Blue Jays edge White Sox

May 3, 2008 - 3:56 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Shaun Marcum and the lifeless offense of the Chicago White Sox made third baseman Joe Crede's throwing error stick out like a sore thumb.

Marcum threw 6 2/3 solid innings and Shannon Stewart drove in a pair of unearned runs in the first inning to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 2-0 victory over the White Sox on Friday.

Marcum (3-2) outdueled Mark Buehrle, allowing just two hits and three walks with nine strikeouts. The righthander threw 62 of 100 pitches for strikes.

"It was one of those days. I was locating my pitches very well," Marcum said.

Marcum had retired 17 of the last 19 hitters he faced before allowing a single to Orlando Cabrera in the sixth.

"The guy threw very well today," White Sox outfielder Brian Anderson said. "He mixed in four pitches, you can never go up there looking for one pitch. It just seemed like he had command of all four pitches, and when a guy has that, it's going to be a long day."

Toronto catcher Gregg Zaun added that Marcum made his job very easy.

"I had everything at my disposal tonight," Zaun said. "I had locations, mix of speeds, (pitch selection) everything, so it was easy for me to mix his speeds and his locations."

The decisive moment came early in the game, as Crede's miscue allowed the first inning to continue, and the Blue Jays made him pay.

With two outs, Scott Rolen reached on Crede's error. Vernon Wells followed with a double, and Stewart plated both runners with a single to center field.

That proved to be the difference as Chicago, which entered Friday's game hitting an American League-low .242, was held hitless by four relievers and left the bases loaded in the seventh.

Marcum ran into trouble in the seventh and left after issuing two-out walks to Carlos Quentin and Crede.

Jeremy Accardo came on and walked Anderson to load the bases but got Juan Uribe to fly out to right, ending the threat.

Jeremy Carlson worked the eighth and Shawn Camp got the first out of the ninth before giving way to Scott Downs, who recorded his second save of the season.

Buehrle (1-3) allowed just two runs and five hits in eight innings, striking out seven without a walk. The lefthander retired the last eight batters he faced.

"I was getting ahead in the count throwing a lot of strikes," Buehrle said. "It kind of hurts me if I'm falling behind the count having a lot of hitters counts. Today I was getting ahead of the guys. I could throw what I wanted in every situation."