Alexei to the rescue

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After a disheartening loss Thursday night, shortstop Orlando Cabrera said something was missing on the White Sox.

On Friday, Alexei Ramirez seemed to find it.

Locked in a scoreless tie with the Royals in the fourth inning at Kauffman Stadium, the Sox loaded the bases with two outs against starter Brian Bannister.

If they squandered the scoring opportunity, the White Sox were in danger of taking yet another turn for the worse.

But after getting ahead in the count 2-1, Ramirez fouled off five pitches before connecting on a grand slam that sparked a 9-4 win over Kansas City.

"I think it was exciting," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "The at-bat he put on was unbelievable. We needed that."

Obviously energized by Ramirez's third slam of the season - which tied the major-league record for a rookie - the White Sox sent four more hitters to the plate in the fourth inning and emerged with a 6-0 lead.

The rolled home from there and now lead Minnesota by 2 games in the American League Central after the Twins were routed 11-1 at Tampa Bay.

"I was not up there trying to hit a home run, but to put the ball in play, " Ramirez said through an interpreter. "But I hit a home run and it changed the whole atmosphere in the dugout."

In a pregame meeting, Guillen implored his players to start acting like a first-place time while having fun in the process.

"At least they listened," Guillen said. "I think this ballclub is about reaction. We struggled in the New York series, so to put up 6 runs there (in the fourth inning), we felt pretty good about it.

"If we're going to go down, we're going to go down fighting. If things don't work out, we can go home with our heads up."

While losing three of four to the Yankees, the Sox' pitching was as spotty as the offense.

There was some concern Friday about starter Mark Buehrle because the workhorse left-hander was pitching on three days' rest for only the fifth time in his career.

Javier Vazquez couldn't handle a similar abbreviated break Thursday, but Buehrle breezed through 6 innings before turning the game over to the bullpen.

"I felt good," Buehrle said. "I forgot about being on short rest. I didn't feel great warming up in the bullpen, but once I got on the mound it was one of the better games I've had as far as feeling good."

It's considered taboo to look ahead in major-league baseball, but Buehrle is already eyeing the big three-game series at Minnesota that opens Tuesday.

"I say we need to go in there at least 2 games up," Buehrle said. "You know the way we play there and the way they play there, so we'd like to have a good lead."

Buehrle said Guillen's message before the game hit home.

"We've got the lead and we've been playing like we're in second place," Buehrle said. "We've worked hard since spring training to get here, and this is where we want to be."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=236350">Could Sox' Quentin be back for playoffs? <span class="date"> [9/19/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=236357">Guillen to Sox: Start acting like first-place team <span class="date"> [9/19/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>