Buehrle flirts with another no-hitter in 6-0 win over Tigers

According to A.J. Pierzynski, Mark Buehrle had one flaw Thursday night.

"Mark in his younger days probably would have finished that game," Pierzynski said. "But he's getting old now and he can't do that anymore."

Pierzynski was just having some fun with his 30-year-old batterymate, who came close to throwing his second career no-hitter in the White Sox' 6-0 win over the Tigers at U.S. Cellular Field.

Buehrle, who no-hit the Texas Rangers at the Cell on April 18, 2007, had retired the first 19 Tigers he faced Thursday. Detroit's Placido Polanco spoiled the perfect game with one out in the seventh inning by hitting an 0-2 pitch into the left-field corner for a double.

That was the only hit Buehrle (5-0) allowed before exiting after 8 innings.

"My stuff I was throwing, I felt capable of maybe getting there," Buehrle said. "But obviously, I know how hard it is to go do that. The changeup was the best changeup I had in a couple of years. Obviously everything was working, the velocity was up there, changing speeds, physically, yeah, I felt pretty good."

With a pitch count of 110 after the eighth, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen turned the game to Bobby Jenks, who allowed consecutive singles to Curtis Granderson and Polanco before recording three outs to preserve the shutout.

"I'm not going to let a guy throw 130, 140 pitches," Guillen said of his decision to pull Buehrle. "That's not my style. We need to keep our eyes on Buehrle. Bobby needs to throw."

Before Polanco ended the no-hitter, the Tigers never really came close to breaking through.

"It's been a while since he's had a good changeup like that," Pierzynski said of Buehrle. "He had pretty much everything going tonight. I was mad at him that he didn't get another no-hitter because I wanted another watch."

Pierzynski and the White Sox (13-14) will gladly settle for a win, which snapped a four-game slide.

"We needed this one, really, really urgent," Guillen said. "The team wasn't playing well, and all of a sudden, the first inning was really important to give Buehrle support. Buehrle was Buehrle. Buehrle made those guys swing the bat, not wasting any pitches."

The Sox wasted little time jumping on Detroit starter Armando Galarraga, scoring 5 runs in the first inning on Jermaine Dye's run-scoring single, Paul Konerko's 2-run double and Pierzynski's 2-run homer.

"Galarraga pitched real well against us last time (in Detroit on April 15), so we wanted to come out and try to get on him early," Pierzynski said. "You never expect to throw 5 up. Leadoff walk and Jermaine's good at-bat to get us on the board, Paulie great swing to score 2 more and then we were fortunate to get up 5-0. With Mark on the mound, you feel pretty good about yourself."

Even at his "advanced" age, Buehrle is off to the best start of his career.

"When we go out there and score early runs, early and often, it's pretty easy to pitch more than when you have a tight game or you're behind," Buehrle said. "You have to credit the offense for putting runs on the board, too."

White Sox vs. Texas Rangers at U.S. Cellular Field

TV: Comcast SportsNet today and Sunday; Channel 9 Saturday

Radio: WSCR 670-AM

Pitching matchups: The Sox' Jose Contreras (0-4) vs. Matt Harrison (2-2) today at 7:11 p.m.; John Danks (2-2) vs. Kevin Millwood (3-2) Saturday at 6:05 p.m.; Bartolo Colon (2-2) vs. Vicente Padilla (1-2) Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

At a glance: Is this Contreras' final chance to retain his starting job? If the veteran right-hander struggles again, he's probably headed to the bullpen. The Sox lost two of three at Texas last weekend.

Next: Cleveland Indians, Monday-Wednesday at Progressive Field

Scot Gregor's game tracker

Thursday's grade: A. Mark Buehrle flirted with a no-hitter, and the White Sox' offense jumped on Tigers starter Armando Galarraga for 5 runs in the first inning.

Mr. Clutch: Paul Konerko had a 2-run double in the first inning; he's batting .458 (11-for-24) with runners in scoring position.

Inaugural launch: Jayson Nix hit his first major-league home run, a solo shot in the fourth inning.

The quote: "I'm not looking for him to throw a no-hitter. I'm looking for him to throw strikes, attack the strike zone. He's going to be facing a good-hitting club" - manager Ozzie Guillen on struggling starter Jose Contreras, who pitches tonight and is in danger of losing his job in the rotation.

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