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Buehrle, Crede help White Sox rout Twins

Jun 8, 2008 - 4:45 AM By Gene Chamberlain PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Chicago White Sox had everything going their way.

Mark Buehrle tossed eight outstanding innings and Joe Crede homered twice as the White Sox rolled to an 11-2 triumph over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.

Crede, who homered twice in Friday's series opener, became the first White Sox batter with back-to-back multi-homer games since Greg Norton did it against Detroit on May 27-28, 1999.

"It seems like after the off-day (Monday) I had a chance to go back home and had a chance to relax and kind of straighten things back out," Crede said. "I've been feeling good at the plate, and it's just a matter of riding it out as long as I can."

Both of Crede's three-run homers keyed four-run innings. In his last 12 at-bats, Crede has five home runs, a double and three singles to go along with 10 RBI.

"It was just a matter of mechanics with my hands," Crede said. "It seemed like my hands and my body were all one piece. (Chicago hitting coach Greg Walker) always says separate your hands from your body, and that's the only thought that's really been going through my head up there at the plate."

Buehrle (3-6) struck out four, walked one and prevented any Twins from getting past first base until Delmon Young belted his first home run of the season with two out in the seventh.

"The offense is hot right now and we've just got to keep running with them," Buehrle said. "I'm not going to sit here and complain getting this many runs."

Chicago's four-run outburst in the second inning off Twins starter Livan Hernandez (6-3) started in an odd way when the slow-footed Paul Konerko hit a leadoff single that center fielder Carlos Gomez misplayed into a triple. Konerko then legged out a run by beating right fielder Michael Cuddyer's throw home on Jim Thome's sacrifice fly to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.

Jermaine Dye singled and Nick Swisher doubled before Crede's bases-clearing homer to left field.

The White Sox chased Hernandez from the game when Alexei Ramirez's RBI single plated Dye, and Orlando Cabrera capped the inning with a two-run double to make it 7-0.

Hernandez gave up seven runs and eight hits.

"They scored a touchdown on us early in the game, and we never got back in it," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We never had a chance."

Crede stroked his second three-run blast off the left-field foul pole in the eighth after Swisher's RBI single drove in Thome, who singled off Twins reliever Boof Bonser to open the inning.

"Joe Crede is swinging the bat right now," Swisher said. "It's like the man can do no wrong."

Young plated Minnesota's other run with run-scoring single in the ninth off reliever Nick Masset.

"We know what type of hitters we have and it looks easy when the offense is going well," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said after his club collected 16 hits for the second straight night. "It's really fun when you are scoring runs."