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Buehrle, Quentin lead White Sox past Indians

May 23, 2008 - 4:35 AM By Gene Chamberlain PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Chicago White Sox are on the kind of roll that has conjured up memories of their 2005 World Series run.

The White Sox used a clutch two-out, eighth-inning RBI single by Carlos Quentin to outlast the Cleveland Indians, 3-1, for their eighth straight victory on Thursday.

"Just to go out there and sweep two teams - it's fun to be on this roll right now," said White Sox starter Mark Buehrle, who threw seven dominating innings.

With the game tied at 1-1, Quentin's single to left scored pinch runner Brian Anderson. Jermaine Dye followed with an RBI single to plate Quentin, which helped give the White Sox their first series sweep of the Indians since 2003.

"Believe me, when you have a roll like this you can't wait to get back to the ballpark," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "It's different when you're losing and trying to find out what's wrong today and what's wrong tomorrow.

"The thing is, hopefully you can keep it up as long as you can and if we shoot the streak, then get a new one."

Indians starter Aaron Laffey (2-3) had been locked in a duel with Buehrle through seven innings, but gave up leadoff single to Toby Hall in the eighth and was pulled in favor of reliever Masa Kobayashi.

Running for Hall, Anderson took off for second when A.J. Pierzynski lifted a sacrifice fly to Grady Sizemore at the warning track in center field.

"He was deep," Anderson said of Sizemore. "I mean, that's a tough play for the outfielder to throw anyone out from there."

Anderson beat the throw home on the single by Quentin, who advanced on the throw to the plate. Dye then drilled a single to left, plating Quentin for a 3-1 lead.

Guillen pointed to Anderson tagging up on Pierzynski's flyout as the type of play the team has been producing repeatedly during a winning streak that began with two road wins over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

"We're not a fast team, but we've been running the bases the best since I've had this job," Guillen said.

The rally allowed Scott Linebrink (1-0) to pick up the win after throwing a scoreless eighth. Bobby Jenks followed with a scoreless ninth for his 12th save of the season.

"The bullpen is unbelievably hot right now," said Buehrle, who allowed just one run and two hits. "We've just got to ride them while they're hot."

Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the first when Orlando Cabrera scored on Quentin's groundout to shortstop. Cabrera had singled and moved to third on Alexei Ramirez's double.

Laffey (2-3) yielded six hits with six strikeouts and one walk in seven-plus innings.

The Indians tied it in the third thanks to a spurt of wildness by Buehrle. Franklin Gutierrez and Asdrubal Cabrera drew one-out walks and Sizemore one-hopped a double to left off the wall to tie the game at 1-1.

Cleveland's offensive woes reached epidemic proportions, as it scored just four runs in the series. The Indians have scored four runs or less in each of their last 10 games and dropped all six games on their road trip.

"This was a tough road trip," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "I'm not happy about it. They (players) aren't happy about it. But we just have to keep pushing, keep working."

Making matters worse, catcher Victor Martinez left the game in the fourth inning with a injury to his left index finger. The extent of the injury is unclear.