CHICAGO — Mark Buehrle pitched
scoreless ball into the seventh, Paul Konerko drove in two runs and the
Chicago White Sox handed Carlos Silva his first loss, beating the
struggling Cubs 2-1 Saturday for their season-high fourth straight win.
Konerko delivered a run-scoring single
in the first and another in the seventh after Juan Pierre stole second,
avoiding the tag with a neat dive. Konerko is 20 for 42 in his last 12
games.
The Cubs got a run-scoring single from
Ryan Theriot off Bobby Jenks with two outs in the ninth, but he struck
out Chad Tracy for his 11th save in 12 chances.
Buehrle (4-6), meanwhile, looked like
his old self while sending the crosstown Cubs to their ninth loss in 12
games.
The veteran left-hander allowed eight
hits and struck out seven without a walk against an all right-handed
lineup after going 1-6 with a 6.22 ERA in his previous 10 starts. He
left to cheers from the White Sox fans after allowing back-to-back
singles by Tyler Colvin and Theriot with two outs in the seventh.
Sergio Santos came in and struck out
pinch-hitter Chad Tracy with a 97-mph fastball on the outside corner.
J.J. Putz pitched a scoreless eighth.
Jenks issued a leadoff walk in the
ninth to Geovany Soto, who went to second on Kosuke Fukudome's chopper
to the mound for the second out and came around on Theriot's single to
right, but the White Sox hung on.
The solid outing by Buehrle capped a
string of strong performances by a rotation that is finally starting to
live up to the hype. White Sox starters have a 1.60 ERA over the past
five games – a big improvement for a group that started the week with an
American League-worst 5.28 ERA.
Marlon Byrd had three hits for the
Cubs, who fell eight games below .500 for the first time since they were
24-32 on June 5, 2007. They went on to win the first of two straight NL
Central titles that year.
Silva (8-1) allowed two runs and
seven hits in seven innings while falling short in his bid to become the
first Cubs starter to open a season 9-0 since Ken Holtzman in 1967. He
set career highs with 123 pitches and two hit batters, and although he
wasn't at his sharpest, he delivered another solid outing.
He allowed consecutive singles by
Alexei Ramirez, Alex Rios and Konerko as the White Sox took a 1-0 lead
in the first and left the bases loaded after hitting A.J. Pierzynski.
Pierre set up the White Sox's second
run with a leadoff walk in the seventh and a spectacular dive to steal
second.
The throw from Soto beat him by about
six feet but Pierre lifted his left arm and contorted his body to avoid
shortstop Starlin Castro's tag before getting his hand on the bag.
With two outs, the Cubs decided to go
after the surging Konerko rather than walk him to face Carlos Quentin,
and he drove in Pierre with a single to right on a 3-2 count after
fouling off three pitches to make it 2-0.
The White Sox then loaded the bases
in the eighth before Pierre grounded into an inning-ending double play.
NOTES: The Cubs will honor the
Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks in a pregame ceremony on Sunday, with
several players throwing out a ceremonial first pitch and leading the
crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning
stretch. Jim Cornelison will also sing the national anthem, as he does
at Blackhawks games. Blackhawks president John McDonough was a longtime
Cubs executive. … White Sox infielder Omar Vizquel, who's tending to a
family matter in Venezuela, might be back in time for Sunday's game.
… Ramirez has a nine-game hitting streak.