White Sox confident Buehrle will rebound

CLEVELAND -- Mark Buehrle breezed through the first inning of Monday's season-opening start, retiring the Indians in order.

"I don't think I made any good pitches," Buehrle said of the first inning.

In the second, Buehrle was out of the game after allowing 7 runs on 7 hits.

"I thought I made a lot of good pitches and they were hitting them," he said. "That's just baseball. It was embarrassing, but they (Sox) came back and picked me up and that's what a good team does.

"I guarantee I'll pick them up sometime this season."

After the game, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was asked what was wrong with Buehrle.

"Everything," Guillen said. "Everything. I think most of his pitches were up, and when Mark gets the ball up he's going to get in trouble because Mark is the type of pitcher that's always going to get hit."

Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said Buehrle probably was too pumped up for the opener.

"I was joking around with him that he was throwing too hard,'' Pierzynski said. "I was looking at the (radar) gun and it was 89 and 90 (mph). For him, it takes away movement.

"It's Opening Day and I'm sure he's a little geeked up. His next time out, he'll be better."

Nick of time: In spring training, Nick Masset clearly lost the competition for the final bullpen spot to Ehren Wasserman.

But while Wasserman is a 1-inning reliever, Masset is able to come in and pitch as long as necessary. The right-hander also is out of minor-league options.

Masset did his job Monday, relieving Mark Buehrle with two outs in the second and pitching 4½ scoreless innings.

"He was great,'' manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I think I was worried making that decision at the end of spring training, but he came out and did a tremendous job. He kept us in the game and he made big pitches to guys in big situations."

Masset knew what the situation was in spring training, but he was able to start anew Monday.

"Everyone has something to prove," he said. "You have to go out there and compete every day. For me, I had a little more extra to prove. Basically, spring training, I prepared myself to pitch for the season. Things didn't go my way."

Let's talk: The White Sox had a brief meeting before Monday's game, and manager Ozzie Guillen said they'll continue throughout the season. He plans to call one before the first game of every series.

"Just to prepare well," Guillen said. "I always liked that. I got that from (manager) Bobby Cox and the Atlanta Braves. We (White Sox) never did it because I didn't think we needed it. This year we have to prepare ourselves better to go out and compete.

"Those kind of meetings, we can get together and if I have to say something I can say it, the players have a chance to speak up. If there's something wrong about the scouting report, we can let them know. We have to stick together as a unit."

Jump right in: The White Sox opened the season Monday against the defending AL Central champion Indians. They move on to Detroit on Friday for a three-game series against the Tigers, a popular pick to win the World Series.

When the Sox head home next week, the first two series are against the Minnesota Twins and the Tigers.

"I saw the schedule and I was actually happy we opened up in the fashion that we opened up," general manager Kenny Williams said. "We can take a look at our competition head up, assess where we are, and they can get a good look at us, too."