Chicago, IL – On the first night without manager Ozzie Guillen, pitcher Mark Buehrle dazzled in what may be his last start as a White Sox.
Buehrle pitched seven shutout frames to lead Chicago past Toronto, 2-1, in the second of three games at U.S. Cellular Field.
Guillen was let out of his contract and coached his last game on Monday, paving the way for first interim manager Joey Cora and then Don Cooper to take over for the last two games. Cora was named interim manager on Monday, but after consultation with general manager Kenny Williams, Cooper was given the role for the final two games. Guillen is reportedly set to become the Marlins manager and will reportedly bring Cora with him to south Florida.
The manager roulette didn't overshadow the White Sox stalwart on a rainy night on the south side. Buehrle (13-9) pitched his prototypical game, giving up nearly as many hits (six) as innings pitched, but he danced in and out of trouble thanks to six strikeouts and zero walks. He came out for the eighth inning by himself and was then removed by Cooper, leaving the field to a standing ovation.
Buehrle, a free agent after the season, has pitched his entire 12-year career with the White Sox, winning 161 games in the process and leading the club to the 2005 World Series title.
Alejandro De Aza finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and Tyler Flowers hit a solo home run for the White Sox, who have won the first two games of this series.
Henderson Alvarez (1-3) was the hard-luck loser, giving up just the two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts over seven frames. Jose Bautista and Jose Molina each finished with two hits for Toronto, which has lost four straight.
Buehrle worked through a leadoff double in the second, and a first-and-second, no-out jam in the third. He got into one last jam in the seventh, as the first two runners reached before a soft fly out to short, a groundout and another groundout off the bat of Mark Teahen.
Flowers drove a low pitch to straightaway center field, leaving no room for Rasmus as the ball caromed off a tarp behind the wall for a long solo home run in the second.
Chicago added an insurance run in the sixth, as De Aza doubled on a grounder into the right-field corner and scored on A.J. Pierzynski's single to right.
Jesse Crain gave up a leadoff home run to Mike McCoy in the eighth for the Blue Jays' lone run.
Game Notes
Buehrle, a model of consistency, registered his 11th straight season with at least 10 wins, 30 starts and 200 innings pitched. The southpaw improved to 5-0 at U.S. Cellular Field against the Blue Jays...The teams have split six games this season...Flowers clubbed his fifth home run of the season.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.