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Blanton superb as Athletics cruise past White Sox

Jul 5, 2008 - 3:51 AM By Gene Chamberlain PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Joe Blanton's teammates finally provided him some relief.

Blanton shrugged off the title of hard-luck loser and held the Chicago White Sox in check for seven innings as the Oakland Athletics rolled to a 7-1 victory Friday.

Jack Cust hit a two-run homer for Oakland, which produced 17 hits and scored its most runs since a 7-1 win over Florida on June 22.

"We've had some good (hitting) games this year," Athletics manager Bob Geren said, although his club has hit just .219 as a team for the 15 games prior to Friday's contest. "We've kind of gone in cycles.

"We've had games where we've scored three runs or less in a ton of them, then all of the sudden we get to 10. It was just one of those days where everything clicked for us."

Blanton (5-11), who had been supported with two runs or less in nine of his previous 18 starts, notched just his second win in seven starts.

"Joe's had a lot of games where we haven't scored a ton of runs for him, but he didn't need many tonight because he pitched well," Geren said. "That was probably the best all-around performance he's had."

The righthander, who had been roughed up for 29 runs in his previous 32 2/3 innings en route to a 1-5 record in that span, yielded a run, six hits and two walks while striking out five.

"I really made it a point to establish the inner half of the plate a little bit more, you know, just kind of using it as a weapon in my arsenal," Blanton said. "I had just kind of got away from that - just keeping opponents honest.

"It's almost like adding a pitch when you do that."

Cust, who homered against Chicago in Oakland's 3-2 win on Thursday, belted a two-run shot off White Sox starter Mark Buehrle (6-7) in the fourth inning to give the Athletics a 2-0 lead.

"That was just a first-ball, fastball pitch," Cust said. "I wanted to be ready. You never know when you're going to get a pitch to hit."

With Oakland clinging to a 2-1 advantage in the sixth, Jack Hannahan delivered an RBI double and scored on Ryan Sweeney's single later in the frame to make it a three-run bulge.

Sweeney's hit ended the night for Buehrle, who allowed four runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings. The veteran lefthander, who had his four-game winning streak halted, is now just 3-11 in 23 career appearances - 19 starts - against the A's.

Buehrle's problems against Oakland continue to baffle White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.

"I'm surprised, because Buehrle is a guy who throws strikes," Guillen said. "When you pitch against the A's, the guys who get in trouble are the guys who don't throw the ball over the plate because they are patient and make you throw strikes.

"But you know, every hitter's got his team and every pitcher's got his team that has his number - and Buehrle doesn't do too well against them."

Donnie Murphy capped a two-run seventh with an RBI single off Chicago reliever Nick Masset and also plated a run with a double in the ninth.

Rookie Wes Bankston and Emil Brown had three hits apiece for Oakland and Mark Ellis walked four times.

Chicago's lone run came on an RBI double by Jim Thome in the fourth.