Buehrle dominates Texas again; White Sox win 10-2
The White Sox were down heading into Tuesday night's game against the Rangers at U.S. Cellular Field.
Not surprisingly, Mark Buehrle took the mound on short rest and gave the Sox a lift.
Pitching with just three days off so he can head back home to Missouri for his grandfather's funeral, Buehrle delivered 7 quality innings. Add in Alexei Ramirez's first major-league grand slam and a 3-run homer by Nick Swisher, and the end result was a 10-2 victory over Texas.
"Obviously, I wanted to do good for my grandpa,'' Buehrle said after allowing 1 run on 6 hits against baseball's highest-scoring team. "I knew he was up there watching. But once the game started, I kind of left my emotions behind.''
Buehrle was working on a shutout until Chris Davis led off with eighth inning with a home run.
"He went out there and did his thing, and that's why he's our ace,'' Swisher said. "Dealing with a loss like that puts a damper on yourself and your family. We wanted to be behind him 150 percent.''
Ozzie Guillen has been behind the Sox since the first day of spring training, but a three-game losing streak promoted the manager to issue a warning after Monday's loss.
With the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline looming, Guillen said: "If you don't do the job, we'll see what we can do with you. My clock, it goes by minutes now.''
The White Sox wasted little time disposing of the Rangers, taking a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning and making it 10-0 in the seventh.
"It seems like when Ozzie gets mad, we play well,'' Swisher said. "We're in for a dogfight, but we're up for the challenge. We have the personnel, the talent and the leaders to do it.''
Maybe the Sox can start performing up to their capabilities without Guillen having to sound off.
"That's the expectation,'' Guillen said after winning his 400th game as White Sox manager. "I think all those guys out there, they believe, at least they should believe, the talent we have and how good we can play. You saw why we're in first place.
"I guess I've been lucky that every time I get upset the team reacts. I don't want to get a heart attack just to win the game. I believe in what I have. I know, my coaching staff, (general manager) Kenny Williams, we believe in what we have out there. That's why sometimes I'm not going to say it's disappointing, but sometimes it's like, 'Wow, what's going on here.' ''
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=222751">Logan at a loss to explain situation<span class="date">[7/22/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>