Football
SportsTicker 19y

Jones ruins Garcia's no-hit bid, lifts Twins to victory

MINNEAPOLIS -- With the help of Carl Everett, Mark
Buehrle finally bested the Minnesota Twins.

Buehrle worked eight strong innings and Everett homered and
drove in four runs as the Chicago White Sox withstood a
ninth-inning rally and posted a 6-4 victory over the Twins.

Buehrle went 10-1 over the first three months of the season,
with the lone loss coming at the Metrodome. The All-Star
lefthander has struggled of late, going 3-5 in his previous nine
starts, including a setback to the Twins on August 17.

On Wednesday, Buehrle (14-6) exacted some revenge, limiting
Minnesota to one run and six hits. He struck out six without a
walk and threw 73 of 105 pitches for strikes.

Buehrle was staked to an early lead as rookie Tadahito Iguchi
drew a one-out walk from Twins starter Joe Mays in the first
inning and Everett followed with his 19th homer of the season.
The two-run blast stood up until the fifth, when Everett
followed a leadoff bunt single by Timo Perez and a double by
Iguchi with a two-run base hit, doubling Chicago's advantage.

Jermaine Dye plated a run with a double later in the inning and
Iguchi lifted a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 6-0. The
extra runs proved crucial as Matt LeCroy belted a solo homer in
the seventh and Nick Punto ignited a ninth-inning rally with a
two-run blast off Cliff Politte to halve the Twins' deficit.

Joe Mauer singled against Damaso Marte and LeCroy greeted Dustin
Hermanson with an RBIs double, pulling Minnesota within 6-4.
But Chicago's closer retired Lew Ford and Michael Cuddyer on
flyouts to seal the victory and notch his 31st save in 33
opportunities.

Everett and former Twin A.J. Pierzynski each had three hits for
the White Sox, who had lost eight of their previous nine games.

Mays (6-9) lasted just 4 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs,
nine hits and a walk without recording a strikeout.

Jason Bartlett added two hits and scored a run for Minnesota,
which had won 10 of 12.

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