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Buehrle sharp as White Sox pound Rangers

Jul 23, 2008 - 4:26 AM By Gene Chamberlain PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Mark Buehrle set aside his emotions and any possible arm weariness for 7 1/3 innings Tuesday to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 10-2 victory over the Texas Rangers.

The veteran lefthander pitched on only three days rest so he could attend Wednesday funeral services for his grandfather. He gave up only one run and six hits, including an eighth-inning solo home run to Chris Davis.

"Once the game started, all the emotions kind of went behind when I was concentrating on what I was doing," Buehrle said. "The emotions will pick back up the next couple days."

Buehrle (8-8) threw 91 pitches without a walk, and retired 10 straight after he allowed Hank Blalock's second-inning, leadoff triple with Chicago leading 1-0.

Buehrle got help from Nick Swisher, who hit a fourth-inning three-run home run, and Alexei Ramirez, who had his first career grand slam in the seventh for a 10-0 lead as the White Sox ended a three-game losing streak.

"There was a lot of concern -- a three-game losing streak," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "A lot of people were pushing the panic button with the way other teams were playing and with Buehrle on three days rest.

A lot of people were asking about his grandfather's funeral.

"But I thought Buehrle was going to go out there and do what he's supposed to do every day. I didn't have any doubts about that."

The victory improve Buehrle to 6-2 in his last nine starts, with a 1.76 earned run average.

"I think this is one of the better stretches I've been on in my career for this amount of time," he said. "I've had some good games and some good stretches, but this seems like as far as this many games in a row I've been throwing the ball pretty well."

As effective as Buehrle was on three days rest, he doubted he'd be doing it again any time soon.

"I think if I could guarantee that I could pitch this way every time, they might think about it," he said.

The key came early for Buehrle and the White Sox, who led 1-0 after Jermaine Dye's first-inning RBI double. Blalock had tripled leading off the second, but Buehrle got Brandon Boggs on a weak tap to third base, Davis on a roller to the mound and Jarrod Saltalamacchia on a pop-up to second base.

"He realized after Blalock's triple that there were three young guys coming up and he used his experience to take advantage of those hitters and get out of the jam," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.

Then the White Sox batted around in the fourth against Texas starter Luis Mendoza (2-4) to score four runs. Swisher highlighted the inning with his 14th home run, a shot to right on the first pitch after Dye singled, Jim Thome singled and Paul Konerko hit into a fielders choice. The White Sox added another run in the frame when Juan Uribe doubled and scored on A.J. Pierzynski's single.

Dye, who had three hits after missing Monday's game due to a knee bruise, scored in the fifth inning on a double play for a 6-0 Chicago lead. Then Ramirez hit the grand slam to left off reliever Justin Nippert in the seventh.

The White Sox offense drew inspiration from Buehrle.

"I said in pregame he was going to do something special today," Swisher said. "Dealing with a loss like that puts obviously a damper on yourself and the family.

"He went out there and pitched a great game. We wanted to be behind him 150 percent. We got him some runs early. He was traditional Mark Buehrle - worked fast, made guys put the ball in play, got some strikeouts and didn't walk too many guys."

After Guillen challenged his team once again in post-game comments for a 1-3 start after the All-Star break, the White Sox managed to expand their AL Central lead to 1 1/2 games with the victory and Minnesota's loss to the New York Yankees.

"I guess I get lucky," said Guillen, who won his 400th game as a manager Tuesday. "Every time I get a little upset, the team reacts. I don't want to get a heart attack just to win the game. I believe in what I have. It was a big win for us. It was huge to win this game today."

Chicago third baseman Joe Crede was out of the lineup due to stiffness in his lower back. Uribe played third base in his place. Guillen said he expects Crede to miss Wednesday's rubber game of the series, but be available against Detroit on Friday.