Chicago, IL (Sports Network) – Mark Buehrle pitched into the seventh inning and a pair of Paul Konerko RBI singles gave the White Sox a 2-1 victory over the crosstown rival Cubs.
Buehrle (4-6) fanned seven, failed to issue a walk and let up eight hits in 6 2/3 shutout frames for his first win in four starts. It also handed the White Sox wins in the first two tests of this weekend set following Friday’s 10-5 final at Wrigley Field.
Konerko finished 3-for-4 and upped his RBI total to 46 as the club picked up its fourth consecutive victory and fifth in six games.
Carlos Silva (8-1) was handed his first loss of the 2010 campaign, snapping a six-start win streak in the process. In seven innings, the early-season standout was reached for seven hits and two runs with a pair of walks and six strikeouts.
Ryan Theriot collected three hits and an RBI and Marlon Byrd went 3-for-4 for the Cubs, who went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position in falling for the fourth time in five games.
Three straight singles in the game’s first frame resulted in a 1-0 White Sox lead as Konerko brought home Alexei Ramirez.
The pitchers took over from there, although, Buehrle had to work out of a few jams along the way. The Cubs had their first two runners on in the first and fourth innings, but the crafty veteran southpaw retired the next three batters each time.
In the seventh, Juan Pierre drew a leadoff walk, swiped second and came home on a two-out base hit by Konerko into right-center.
The Cubs threatened in the bottom half when Tyler Colvin and Theriot strung together a pair of two-out hits. Buehrle exited in favor of Sergio Santos, who struck out pinch-hitter Chad Tracy.
Andrew Cashner got Pierre to ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth to keep it a two-run game.
But the hosts couldn’t get a run home against J.J. Putz in their turn despite a one-out double from Byrd. Bobby Jenks allowed Theriot’s RBI single with two outs in the ninth, but recovered to strike out Tracy for his 11th save.
Silva is just 4-11 in 20 career matchups with the White Sox. Despite the loss, he has given up just three runs, walked three batters and recorded 22 strikeouts over 21 innings of his last three starts…Buehrle improved to 5-4 in 12 career starts versus the Cubs. The lefty hurler picked up his first road win in six starts this season…The White Sox won their season series with the Cubs a year ago, taking four of the six matchups…Sunday’s finale will feature Gavin Floyd for the White Sox against Cubs lefty Ted Lilly.