September 7: White Sox 5, Red Sox 1
It took nearly a month and a half, but Mark Buehrle finally picked up his first win since the perfect game.
He definitely worked hard enough for it. Only two of his seven innings were of the 1-2-3 variety, and he stranded runners in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
The fifth inning nearly could have broken him. He retired the first two hitters before Alex Gonzalez and Jacoby Ellsbury hit back to back singles. Dustin Pedroia worked a tough walk, and that set the table for White Sox nemesis Victor Martinez.
Buehrle got ahead 1-2 on Martinez, and won the battle when Uncle Victor hit a can of corn to Alex Rios in center. After halting that two-out rally, the rest of Buehrle’s day was smoother. He ultimately limited the damage to a bloop RBI single by Kevin Youkilis in the first.
He received enough support, both by the offense and bullpen.
The Sox touched up Josh Beckett for all three runs he allowed in the third inning. Jayson Nix didn’t move on an inside curveball to lead it off, and Scott Podsednik followed with a single to center. After a sac bunt by Alexei Ramirez, A.J. Pierzynski hit a tapper to short soft enough to score Nix to tie the game.
Mark Kotsay then inflicted more damage upon his former team. He followed a Jermaine Dye four-pitch walk with soft single to center to score two runs.
Kotsay tried to make it a 4-1 lead when Jeff Cox sent him home on Carlos Quentin’s double to left, but home plate umpire Marc Crawford ruled Kotsay out. The throw beat him, but it appeared Kotsay made a great slide to avoid Jason Varitek’s tag. Crawford did not reward Kotsay for his effort.
Thankfully, the Sox didn’t need that run. Tony Pena entered the game in the eighth inning after Buehrle allowed a leadoff single and retired all three men he faced, including two by strikeouts. He did cause the heart to stop when he allowed a long foul ball to Jason Bay that would have tied the game, but instead he walked out with a rare hold.
Quentin gave the Sox a little more breathing room in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out homer off Hideki Okajima, a liner that rocketed off the back of the Sox bullpen.
Record: 69-70 | Box score | Play-by-play
