Buehrle wins again as White Sox beat Twins
The White Sox have proven they can't win in Toronto, but they caught a break after 4 more losses at Rogers Centre.
They returned home to play Minnesota.
The Twins are as scrappy as they come, but they've had their own problems at U.S. Cellular Field lately. Fortunately for the floundering Sox, the trend continued Tuesday night.
"Good pitching, some solid defense and some good hitting," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said after the White Sox snapped a five-game slide with a 6-2 victory over Minnesota. "It was just a well-played game, and we've been looking for that for about a week now."
The Twins are 1-9 in their last 10 games at the Cell.
With Mark Buehrle on the mound for the Sox, Minnesota was in trouble before the game even started. The ace left-hander breezed through 7 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 8 hits.
Buehrle (6-1) picked up his 23rd career win over the Twins, his most against any opponent.
"I own them," Buehrle cracked.
He certainly has this season, beating Minnesota twice while allowing just 2 earned runs over 131/3 innings.
"I'm pitching with a lot of confidence now," Buehrle said. "When you get run support it's a lot easier to pitch, and I've been fortunate to get some early leads."
The White Sox scored just 8 total runs during their five-game losing streak. They didn't exactly pound Twins starter Scott Baker (1-5) and three relievers, but at least the Sox made their 7 hits count.
Paul Konerko got things rolling in the second inning with a 2-run homer, and Alexei Ramirez made it 3-0 with an RBI double.
Jermaine Dye homered in the fifth, and Jim Thome added a 2-run double in the seventh.
"We needed to come out of our shell," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We needed to come out of our slump. It's huge. I told our coaches I had a feeling we were going to start playing better. We couldn't wait for something good to happen to us, and it happened today."
Gregor's game tracker
Tuesday's grade: A-. The White Sox weren't perfect, but they came up with a huge win after going 1-6 on a road trip to Cleveland and Toronto.
Home cooking: Mark Buehrle is 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA at U.S. Cellular Field this season.
Good sign: Paul Konerko's 2-run homer gave the Sox the lead in the second inning. They are 12-4 when scoring first this season.
Rough night: Josh Fields was moved backup to the No. 2 hole Tuesday, but an 0-for-4 showing (with 2 strikeouts) dropped his average to .217. Fields also made a throwing error.
On tap: Which John Danks is going to show up vs. the Twins tonight? In his first three starts this season, the lefty was 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA. In his last four, Danks is 0-3 with an 8.84 ERA.
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