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Royals' Lerew picks up first win vs. White Sox

Jun 29, 2010 - 4:14 AM KANSAS CITY, Mo.(AP) -- This win was a long time coming for Anthony Lerew.

The Kansas City Royals' rookie right-hander earned his first major league victory Monday night, throwing six solid innings in a 3-1 win over the Chicago White Sox.

Lerew has been pitching professionally 10 years and had to overcome Tommy John surgery in 2008.

"I've been waiting for this day forever," he said. "It's finally good to have it happen. I definitely have gray hairs. It's incredible."

Lerew (1-1), making his eighth major league start and 17th appearance, allowed one run and three hits, struck out four and walked one. He helped lead the Royals to their fourth win in five games.

"I definitely had that in the back of my mind the whole time, which wasn't a help," Lerew said of the elusive victory. "I made it a lot more work than it should have been, the added pressure on me."

The White Sox lost their second straight after an 11-game winning streak ended Sunday. It was just their third defeat in 18 games.

Carlos Quentin's 13th homer in the fourth inning was the only run Lerew allowed.

"It was a good ballgame, but we just didn't get the big hit," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

The Royals overcame three runners being thrown out on the bases and two errors in the final two innings.

"It was an ugly one," said Willie Bloomquist, who had three of the Royals' 12 hits. "We had a lot of mistakes. I made a bunch myself. The bottom line is we came out on top. Ugly or not, we got the 'W.' That's a game in the past few years we'd figure out a way to lose and hopefully we're turning the corner and finding out ways to win games that we shouldn't. We had a lot of opportunities to blow that game wide open, but we just didn't. We were fortunate to come out on top."

Chicago's Mark Buehrle, who went 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA in interleague play, lost for the first time since June 1. Buehrle (6-7) allowed three runs on 10 hits and a season-high five walks in 6 1-3 innings. That was the most walks by Buehrle since a career-high six on May 11, 2003.

"I was missing with some pitches and I was missing a lot," Buehrle said. "I'd throw a close pitch, but if you're all over the place, it's harder to get a strike call. Being wild all over the place doesn't help. When you're not making your pitches and the balls are finding holes, that's what happens."

Buehrle threw 35 pitches in the Royals' two-run first, walking two and giving up three hits. Billy Butler's single scored Jason Kendall, and Mike Aviles, who also had three hits, drove in David DeJesus with a two-out single.

"I was probably the most nervous one after the first inning," Lerew said. "I was miserable pitching in that situation, getting an early lead."

Butler's two-out single in the second scored Kendall, giving the Royals a 3-0 lead.

Royals relievers Victor Marte, Robinson Tejeda and Joakim Soria, who earned his 19th save in 21 opportunities, preserved the lead for Lerew with three scoreless innings.

"Lerew did a great job of getting us through six and the bullpen covered it from there," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "They the made three runs stand up. Anthony getting his first win was big, but he earned it. That's a tough hitting club over there and he did a great job of keeping them off balance and getting us through six innings."

The White Sox loaded the bases on an error by Yuniesky Betancourt, a walk and a hit batter with one out in the ninth, but failed to score. Soria retired pinch-hitter Mark Kotsay and Alexei Ramirez on infield popups to Aviles.

"Everyday is an adventure," Soria said. "I love being there in that situation. Thank God I got the save, we get the win and everything is fine. I tried to get groundballs, but I got two fly balls."

Jose Guillen went 0 for 3 and walked, ending his career-high 21-game hitting streak, which was the longest by a Royals hitter since Rey Sanchez hit in 21 straight in 2001.

NOTES: First base umpire Alfonso Marquez left in the fifth inning with symptoms of heat distress and shortness of breath and was taken to St. Luke's Hospital for evaluation. ... Juan Pierre made his eighth start as the White Sox designated hitter, while Andruw Jones started in left. Jones went 0 for 3 and is 3 for 40 in his past 18 games. Kansas City's bullpen has allowed one run in 17 2-3 innings in the past seven games.