Shoppach's two homers lift Indians over White Sox

Posted August 06, 2009 11:00 pm

Scot Gregor

It seems like every time White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle takes the mound these days, records start being matched or broken.

That was the case again in Friday night's game against the Cleveland Indians at U.S. Cellular Field.

In his third start since becoming the 18th pitcher in major-league history to throw a perfect game, Buehrle got the Indians to ground into 6 double plays.

That set a franchise record, tied the American League mark and was 1 shy of the all-time high for double plays in a game.

Only this time Buehrle won't be honored by the state of Illinois or the city of Chicago. And there will be no guest spots with David Lettermen.

"I'm just in a little funk right now," Buehrle said after the Sox lost to Cleveland 6-2. "I just really didn't give us a chance to win today."

Since becoming part of baseball history with his July 23 gem against the Tampa Bay Rays, Buehrle has pitched 181/3 innings and allowed 17 earned runs.

The Indians, stripped of much of their talent before the trade deadline, pounded Buehrle (11-6) for 6 runs (5 earned) on 11 hits in 72/3 innings.

"I'm giving up a lot of hits," Buehrle said, "but I think if you check my track record over the past couple years, I give up a lot of hits. They're hitting some good pitches and they're hitting them when I make a mistake. That's why I say I think this game is luck."

Buehrle was on the mound for all 6 double plays, becoming the first pitcher to accomplish the feat since Kansas City's Dick Drago on May 6, 1972, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Hall of Fame won't be calling for his uniform or his glove for this one, and White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen is starting to worry about his ace.

"No movement," Guillen said of Friday's outing. "Everything was kind of flat and he was missing his spots. I don't know if he's fatigued. The last 2 starts, he's not the guy we always see out there on the mound."

Buehrle threw only 75 pitches in his previous start, a lopsided loss to the New York Yankees on Sunday. He said he's not tired.

"I feel strong," said Buehrle, who went over 2,000 innings for his career Friday. "I felt strong late in the game. It's just one of those things where I'm giving up a lot of hits right now."

And the Sox continue to make a lot of errors.

They booted three balls against Cleveland and have 8 errors in their last three games.

"We work hard at it," said rookie third baseman Gordon Beckham, who made one of the errors. "Errors are going to happen. We just hope they don't hurt us too much."

Guillen is starting to lose his patience with the White Sox' leaky defense.

"I say I never will criticize my players for making errors, but when you see more errors than hits, something's wrong," Guillen said.

"I wish I knew what's going on because I think we're one of the few teams that take guys almost every day to take groundballs and work on it. We're making too many errors, too many mistakes."

Scot Gregor's game tracker Indians 6, White Sox 2 Friday's grade: D+. The Sox did tie the AL record by turning 6 double plays, but they also played another bad defensive game and did very little against a starter (Jeremy Sowers) they already beat four times this season. Error of his ways: Jayson Nix made 2 errors and has 4 in his last three games. With shortstop Alexei Ramirez back in the lineup, Nix played second base Friday. On tap: As expected, the White Sox called up Carlos Torres from Class AAA Charlotte to start vs. Cleveland tonight. They sent Jhonny Nunez back to Charlotte. Carl Pavano was scheduled to start for the Indians, but he was traded to the Twins on Friday. Justin Masterson, acquired in a July 31 trade from the Red Sox, gets the nod.