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Richard earns first win as White Sox top Mariners

Aug 20, 2008 - 4:30 AM By Gene Chamberlain PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Clayton Richard missed out on the Olympics, but the Chicago White Sox' lefthander turned in a gold medal-winning effort Tuesday in a 5-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Richard, slated to pitch for the U.S. baseball team in China until being called up by Chicago on July 21, earned his first major league victory by throwing six scoreless innings.

"It's what you grew up as a kid and wished for and it's definitely exciting to be a part of," Richard said of his first victory.

The White Sox backed their 2005 eighth-round draft pick with 14 hits, including home runs from Nick Swisher and Jim Thome, as they won their fourth straight .

"It seems like right now all the cylinders are clicking," Swisher said.

Richard, a former quarterback at Michigan, had made three starts without getting past the fifth. He brought in a 9.64 ERA to go with 28 hits allowed over 14 innings.

Yet White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen decided to give him another start in the spot vacated when Jose Contreras suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon. Fellow minor leaguer Lance Broadway had pitched well in that spot the last time through the rotation.

"I think it was roll the dice with Broadway's outing and this kid's outing," Guillen said. "I think we got something positive out of our minor league kids. I think that's great. I think (Richard) stepped it up. I don't know why, but for some reason I had a lot of faith because he really only pitched one bad game before, in Kansas City."

The Mariners managed five hits off Richard (1-2), who struck out two and walked one.

"Everyone was questioning whether (Richard) was going to be able to do it - today he did it," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "He threw his changeup over, he threw his slider over, he threw fastballs in, which we've been trying to get him to do. He was outstanding today and deserves a lot of credit."

The game hardly started on a solid note for Richard, as he dropped Ichiro Suzuki's low line drive and then threw wildly for a two-base error. Ichiro moved up on a single by Miguel Cairo, but Swisher bailed out the rookie by fielding a hot shot, stepping on first and rifling home to Pierzynski to get the sliding Ichiro for a double play.

"It was huge, really, first and third with no outs is a tough situation to be in," Richard said.

The fact that Ichiro was on third made escaping unscathed from that situation all the more unlikely.

"I just happened to have the ball hit right at me," Swisher said. "In that situation I just tried to get rid of it as fast as I could, obviously, with Ichiro. That guy could compete in the 100-meter dash right now."

The White Sox scored in four straight innings against Seattle starter Felix Hernandez (7-8), who brought a 3.04 ERA into his 24th start. Hernandez gave up five runs on 11 hits in five innings.

Thome had doubled and scored the first Chicago run in the second after moving to third on Alexei Ramirez's single. Ken Griffey Jr. drove in the run with a sacrifice fly to right.

Chicago's third started with back-to-back doubles from Pierzynski and Carlos Quentin. After Jermaine Dye's flyout to right, Hernandez intentionally walked Thome to get to Ramirez, Chicago's batting average leader. Ramirez lined an RBI single to left for a 3-0 lead.

Swisher hit his 19th home run leading off the fourth for a 4-0 lead and Thome lined homer No. 26 into the right-field seats leading off the fifth.

For his first victory, Richard received a game ball, the lineup card, a post-game beer shower from teammates and a big hug from his father.

There was no gold medal, but he still has paid close attention to the U.S. team in China.

"I get to watch them whenever I can - it's kind of tough with their schedule," he said. "It's fun to watch some of the guys you played against."

Any regrets about being in a pennant chase instead of Beijing?

"I'm real excited with where I'm at," Richard said.

The Mariners lost their fifth straight and ninth in the last 10 games, while suffering their seventh shutout loss.