Buehrle, bats team up for 8-0 White Sox win
The weather finally is starting to warm up a bit.
Is the White Sox' offense going to follow suit?
It sure looked that way, for a night at least, in Friday's 8-0 interleague win over the Marlins at U.S. Cellular Field.
Picking up where they let off in Thursday's narrow loss to the Angels - when the Sox rallied for 4 runs in the eighth inning - Alexei Ramirez's 5 RBI were more than enough to back a stellar performance from starter Mark Buehrle.
"We swung the bats well," said designated hitter Mark Kotsay, who was 3-for-4 with a solo home run. "It was nice to put two games back-to-back where guys had some success and hopefully can build on that and continue down that path offensively.
"It's nice to have some balls fall in. A lot of times when you get those cheap hits, it creates success and you get a little more confidence."
Ramirez's confidence has been gradually rising over the past week. The shortstop put the White Sox in front with a 2-run double off Florida starter Ricky Nolasco in the second inning, and he broke the game open with a 3-run homer in the sixth.
"We need those guys swinging the bat better," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "When we swing the bats, we score some runs, pitchers have more cushion. They can make better pitches and they can go out and not have to make the perfect pitch.
"Alexei, when he gets on a roll, he can produce and he plays shortstop tremendous."
Ramirez had another miserable April, batting .221 with 1 home run and 8 RBI. But after Friday's monster night, Ramirez is batting .391 (9-for-23) with a 1 homer and 8 RBI over his last six games.
"I'm aware of the fact that at the beginning of the year I haven't done it for the last three years," Ramirez said through translator Joey Cora.
"The way I train, the way I practice, you're going to see it sooner or later. I am very confident I'm going to come out of it sooner or later because I train so hard."
Buehrle won for the first time since April 11, when he beat the Twins. The veteran left-hander breezed through 8 innings and allowed 3 hits before turning it over to Sergio Santos.
"This team is a swinging team," Guillen said of the Marlins. "Those guys up there are going to swing the bat.
"My prediction was Buehrle was going to have a good game tonight because he can move the ball around, change speeds, all that stuff."
Buehrle did just that, but he was impressed by Florida's lineup.
"To me, that's one of the top three teams I've faced all year," Buehrle said. "They were taking the ball the other way. I was making good pitches, and they were hitting the ball pretty hard.
"This was a game I could easily see giving up 4 or 5 runs, like my last five outings have been. To be honest with you, luck was on my side. A couple baserunning mistakes, I had a couple double plays. They were just hitting the ball hard right at guys."
<p class="fasctboxheadblack">Scot Gregor's game tracker</p>
<p class="News">White Sox 8, Marlins 0</p>
<p class="News"><b>Coming around:</b> The Sox were 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Over their last nine games, they're batting .362 with RISP.</p>
<p class="News">Likin' the NL: Mark Buehrle pitched 8 innings against the Marlins and improved his lifetime interleague record to 20-6.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Alexei unleashed:</b> Alexei Ramirez had a 2-run double and 3-run homer. He tied his career high with 5 RBI.</p>
<p class="News"><b>On strike:</b> Before getting Hanley Ramirez in the sixth, Buehrle pitched 111/3 consecutive innings and faced 65 hitters without recording a strikeout.</p>
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