Sox split; Buehrle wins his season finale

Posted September 30, 2009 11:00 pm

Scot Gregor

The Cleveland Indians dismissed manager Eric Wedge and his coaching staff before Wednesday's doubleheader against the White Sox at Progressive Field.

Maybe the Indians came out fired up in the opener, a 5-1 win over the Sox.

But in Game 2, Mark Buehrle made the most of his final start of the season, pitching 6 innings in a 1-0 victory.

Working on an extra day of rest, Buehrle (13-10) allowed 3 hits while winning for just the second time since his July 23 perfect game.

"You see the way he threw today, it was better than the last outing," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters. "The last outing was 78-80 mph, and today he brought it up to 88-90."

Buehrle said the elusive win was sparked by the return of his cut fastball.

"I felt good from the get-go," the left-hander told reporters. "I joked around today that I think I found my cutter for the first time in a year-and-a-half. I'm just glad I found it on the last start of the year.

"The cutter was working, and I could tell the way guys were taking hacks at it and some of them were down the middle. I don't know if it was moving that much or what."

With Jake Peavy on the roster, it looks like Buehrle might be moving down in the White Sox' rotation in 2010.

"I've said this all along," Buehrle said. "Once we got Peavy, if I'm the White Sox organization, I start him. The guy has dominated; he's a Cy Young Award winner. I think he's a better pitcher than I am.

"If I'm the White Sox organization coming down to it, I would start him Opening Day and kind of fill everyone out from that. But that's next year in spring training, so we will see what happens."

Can Wednesday's win give Buehrle a boost heading into training camp?

"Going into the off-season, it's the same thing," Buehrle said. "You just try to get ready for next year, no matter how you ended. Obviously, ending on this note, it helps.

"If you go out there and get it handed to you in your last start, you go into the off-season kind of worried about getting guys out."

Paul Konerko's two-out RBI single in the sixth inning off Cleveland starter Justin Masterson was the difference in Game 2.

In the opener, the Sox managed just 1 run off Indians starter Fausto Carmona. It came in the fourth inning, when Josh Fields singled and scored on Dewayne Wise's triple.

Rookie catcher Tyler Flowers joined the White Sox' growing injury list, leaving Game 1 with a contusion on his left forearm after being hit by a Carmona pitch.

Second baseman Chris Getz is scheduled to have sports hernia surgery Friday, and relievers D.J. Carrasco (hamstring) and Octavio Dotel (neck) also are banged up.

Chicago White Sox's Mark Buehrle pitches against the Cleveland Indians in the first inning of the second game of a baseball doubleheader Wednesday. Associated Press

Gregor's game tracker Indians 5-0, White Sox 1-1 One and done: The Sox managed a doubleheader split with Cleveland despite scoring 2 total runs. Dewayne Wise's triple scored Josh Fields in the opener and Paul Konerko's RBI single in the sixth inning accounted for the only run in Game 2. See you next year: In his final start of the season, Mark Buehrle pitched 6 strong innings in Game 2, allowing 3 hits. It was Buehrle's second win in 13 starts since his July 23 perfect game. Sick bay: Rookie catcher Tyler Flowers had to leave the opening game with a contusion after being hit on the left forearm by a Fausto Carmona pitch.