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Struggling Dye lifts White Sox over Royals

May 13, 2007 - 5:42 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The much-maligned Chicago White Sox offense stepped up when it really mattered.

Jermaine Dye drove in the game-winning run with a single in the 10th inning to lift the White Sox to a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

Juan Uribe had three hits and drove in a pair of runs and rookie Ryan Sweeney clubbed his first major league homer for Chicago, which has won four in a row.

"I was happy about the home run, but I was definitely glad we got the win," Sweeney said. "Jermaine comes through in the clutch all the time."

Dye drove a 3-1 offering from reliever Brandon Duckworth (0-3) into right field, sending home pinch runner Luis Terrero from second to clinch the victory.

The All-Star slugger, who was mired in an 0-for-13 slump heading into Saturday's contest, had his first multi-hit game since April 27 to lift his average above the Mendoza line to .202.

"I'm going to keep battling, keep fighting, going out there and believing in myself," Dye said. "Today was a big confidence booster."

"Hey, that's what a big league hitter does," Duckworth said. "It's tough, I'm just trying to make pitches. It's always deflating when you have the lead and you end up losing it in extra innings."

The White Sox were down to their final out when Darin Erstad singled up the middle off Royals closer Joakim Soria in the ninth. Uribe followed with a double to deep right right, plating Erstad and sending the game into extra innings.

Kansas City had a chance to regain the lead in the top of the 10th. Mike MacDougal (1-0) came on with one out and surrendered a walk to Emil Brown. Brown stole second and moved to third on MacDougal's wild pitch, but the lanky righthander forced Billy Butler to ground out to second and struck out fellow rookie Alex Gordon looking.

Scott Elarton started for the Royals and was in line for the win, allowing three runs - two earned - and six hits in five innings. The veteran righthander was making his first start of the 2007 campaign after beginning the year on the disabled list while recovering from right shoulder surgery.

"Overall, I felt good," Elarton said. "I was having trouble with the off-speed stuff early, (but) that was probably just adrenaline. (The win) could have been a good confidence builder, but personally it's not going to affect me very much."

The former first-round draft pick made 20 starts in 2006, including the Opening Day start against Detroit, compiling a 4-9 record with a 5.34 ERA before going down in July with a shoulder injury.

Zack Greinke relieved Elarton in the sixth and had no problem adjusting to his new role in the bullpen against Chicago. The 23-year-old pitched three hitless innings in his second relief outing, striking out a pair and issuing one walk.

"(Greinke) is good," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He's always been good against us."

The White Sox opened the scoring in the first, when Uribe drove Elarton's 2-1 offering into the stands in left-center for a solo homer, his fifth of the season.

Dye and Rob Mackowiak began Chicago's half of the second with back-to-back singles. Joe Crede followed with a fielder's choice and Dye scampered home on second baseman Mark Grudzielanek's throwing error.

Kansas City took the lead in the fourth. Mark Teahen opened the frame with a single and came home on Mike Sweeney's RBI double. Sweeney advanced to third on Brown's single and came home on Butler 's sacrifice fly.

John Buck delivered the big blow, driving Mark Buehrle's pitch into the left field seats for a two-run blast to give the Royals the lead.

Buehrle suffered through his worst outing of the season, yielding four runs and seven hits in six innings. The veteran lefthander entered Saturday's game without allowing more than three runs in any start this season, but had not earned a win since April 23 at Kansas City.

"You don't want to give up four runs in one inning, but it's just one of those days," Buehrle said. "The last couple of games I haven't really been getting ahead of guys. It's one of those things I need to work on."