Buehrle pitches White Sox over Reds 4-1
With the White Sox bullpen being taxed and/or waxed every day of late, Mark Buehrle had a bigger task than normal on Fathers Day.
The left-hander came through with 7 scoreless innings on a muggy Sunday afternoon against Cincinnati to pace the Sox to a 4-1 win at Great American Ball Park.
Not even another shaky eighth inning from Scott Linebrink prevented the White Sox from finishing with a 5-3 record on their road trip through the NL Central.
Buehrle (7-2) scattered 1 double, 4 singles and 1 walk to earn his first victory since May 19. It was a considerable improvement over his first 5 road starts this year, when he allowed at least 3 earned runs each time out.
"Buehrle was great," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters. "I tell you what: We needed this game bad."
Why this particular game?
Because the Sox (33-36) delivered varying combinations of poor relief, iffy hitting and bizarre fielding in their three previous games before putting it all together this time.
Scott Podsednik, Alexei Ramirez and A.J. Pierzynski started the game with singles off Cincinnati ace Aaron Harang to give the Sox a 2-0 lead before Buehrle took the mound.
Once there, he consistently worked ahead of the Reds as he allowed just two runners to reach scoring position.
Buehrle worked out of a first-and-third jam with one out in the second when he induced popups from Ryan Hanigan and Adam Rosales.
The Reds (34-34) didn't have another good scoring chance until Linebrink entered to start the eighth.
Pinch hitter Chris Dickerson singled and stole second, then Jerry Hairston battled through an 11-pitch at-bat to earn a walk.
After Linebrink's wild pitch allowed Dickerson to get to third, Brandon Phillips delivered a sacrifice fly. When Linebrink nipped Jonny Gomes with a high-and-tight fastball, pitching coach Don Cooper headed to the mound to sort things out.
Fortunately for Linebrink, the baseball gods changed their recent trend and chose his side. Ramon Hernandez smoked a line drive right at shortstop Ramirez, who tossed to Chris Getz to double off Hairston at second to end the inning.
Bobby Jenks threw a perfect ninth to earn his fourth save on the road trip and 17th of the season.
"Linebrink still struggled," Guillen said. "If we're going to win, we need him. Badly. We need him to step it up and pitch better."
Lindsey Willhite's game tracker
First-pitch strikes: In the at-bats where Sox starter and winner Mark Buehrle threw first-pitch strikes, Cincinnati went 1-for-17 with the lone hit being a harmless two-out single. When Buehrle threw first-pitch balls, the Reds went 4-for-9 with a walk.
P.K. 1000: Sox first baseman Paul Konerko earned his 1,000th career RBI in the fifth inning. His two-out chopper up the middle scored Scott Podsednik from second to boost the Sox' margin to 3-0.
Linebrink lags: Setup man Scott Linebrink struggled again as he allowed 1 run and 3 baserunners in the eighth. In his last seven outings stretching over 61/3 innings, he has surrendered 15 runners and 8 runs (3 earned).
Cubs rotation: Sox manager Ozzie Guillen will start Clayton Richard in Thursday's series finale against the Dodgers. That means Jose Contreras, Mark Buehrle and John Danks will handle the weekend set with the Cubs.