Richard part of Sox' winning act

Everything's going right for the White Sox these days.

When manager Ozzie Guillen tabbed Clayton Richard to start against the Mariners Tuesday night in the heat of the pennant race, the second-guessing was predictable.

After all, Richard didn't show much in 3 earlier starts for the Sox, going 0-3 while allowing 19 runs (15 earned) on 28 hits in just 13 innings.

"Everyone was questioning whether he'd be able to do it,'' catcher A.J. Pierzynski said.

Richard provided the answer in the White Sox' 5-0 victory over Seattle at U.S. Cellular Field, pitching 6 solid innings before turning the game over to the bullpen and earning his first major-league win.

"It's huge, especially with where we're at with the pennant race," Richard said. "I'm excited to be a part of it."

Richard looked like he was going to get ripped apart again in the first inning.

Mariners leadoff man Ichiro Suzuki reached second base on Richard's throwing error, and Seattle had runners on first and third with no outs after Miguel Cairo followed with a single.

"If you can get out of that inning with minimum damage, it's good," Pierzynski said.

Thanks to the Sox' defense, there was no damage at all.

Raul Ibanez has battered White Sox pitching throughout his career, but he grounded into a big double play in the first. First baseman Nick Swisher gloved Ibanez's grounder, touched the bag, then threw home to get Suzuki. After Adrian Beltre walked, Jose Lopez grounded out to end the inning.

"First and third with no out, that's a tough situation to be in," Richard said. "Swish made an incredible play, and at the back end of that, A.J. did a really good job of putting the tag down."

Richard cruised the rest of the way, and the White Sox' offense continued to roll while scoring 5 runs off Seattle's best pitcher, Felix Hernandez, who was pulled after 5 innings.

Ken Griffey Jr.'s sacrifice fly in the second inning scored Jim Thome to put the Sox in front, and Carlos Quentin's RBI double and Alexei Ramirez's run-scoring single in the third gave Richard some breathing room.

The White Sox did hit 2 more home runs - solo shots by Swisher in the fourth inning and Thome in the fifth - but they didn't rely solely on the longball.

"Felix is really good," Pierzynski said. "To score runs early and patch some on, it's nice. You aren't always going to hit home runs. It's nice because people get to watch the fireworks, but you have build runs."

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