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Vazquez leads White Sox over Tigers

Sep 15, 2008 - 1:03 AM By Gene Chamberlain PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) - After sitting through the rain all weekend without knowing when he might be called upon, Chicago White Sox pitcher Javier Vazquez seemed a little like a firefighter.

The alarm finally went off when the rain stopped after two days of postponements and a 3-hour, 11-minute delay on Sunday, and Vazquez doused the Detroit Tigers with 7 2/3 innings of three-hit ball as the White Sox recorded a 4-2 victory.

"They gave us 25, 20 minutes before they announced the start of the game, so that's when you have to be ready," Vazquez said.

Vazquez (12-13) struck out eight to finish the game with 2,003 career strikeouts, becoming the 62nd pitcher in major-league history to reach the 2,000 mark. He was backed Alexei Ramirez's 17th home run of the year as the White Sox got to Tigers starter Justin Verlander for nine hits and all four runs.

"Javie pitched extremely well, maybe one of his best games all year, one that we needed the most," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "They all know that we must win every game and to throw the ball like that, it was something I really felt good about ... Hopefully the next four starting guys will continue to do it."

Vazquez had been announced as a starter for Saturday's game on only three days' rest. However, Friday's game was rained out, then Saturday's scheduled doubleheader was rained out. Finally, it rained the hardest on Sunday morning before the storms finally dissipated in mid-afternoon.

"I got here at 10 in the morning, I played X-Box," Vazquez said. "Oh my God, I just sat at my locker, just got ready."

What had been slated as a day-night doubleheader had to become an old-fashioned doubleheader, and Vazquez took the mound with virtually no fans in the ballpark.

"I played six years in Montreal, so I'm used to that," Vazquez said.

Vazquez fanned Edgar Renteria with one out in the fifth to reach the 2,000-strikeout plateau. He moved past Andy Benes and Billy Pierce into 61st place on the career strikeouts list.

Only one Tiger got as far as second base against Vazquez, who was practically infallible before walking Dusty Ryan with two outs in the eighth and finally getting the hook.

Juan Uribe broke a scoreless tie with a two-out RBI single off Verlander (10-16) in the fifth, bringing Ken Griffey Jr. home after the veteran outfielder lined a one-out double off the wall in center field. Ramirez drove a Verlander offering into the left field seats with one out in the seventh to give Chicago a 2-0 lead.

The White Sox added two more big runs in the eighth on an RBI triple by DeWayne Wise and a run-scoring double by Jermaine Dye, at which point Verlander exited the game. Those two runs proved big because Magglio Ordonez hit a two-run home run off White Sox closer Bobby Jenks in the ninth before Gary Sheffield hit into a double play to end the game.

Verlander gave up nine hits, walked two and struck out two in 7 2/3 innings. He had come into the game with a 6.01 ERA and a 1-4 record this season against Chicago. The loss dropped Verlander to 2-9 against Chicago for his career.

"It was a little tough to get going, it appeared for both teams to start with," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "And they got a little more than we did. That's all ... I thought Verlander pitched very well. We just didn't do anything with the bats until it was too late."