The White Sox possess the major leagues’ best record, are tied for the American League lead in fielding and have made a habit of clutch hitting.
But they fell short in all three areas Thursday night as World Series champion Boston made them pay dearly in a 6-5 loss before a crowd of 36,784 at U.S. Cellular Field.
The White Sox committed three errors–none as costly as third baseman Joe Crede’s dropped foul pop that snapped his 49-game errorless streak.
On the next pitch, Manny Ramirez launched a 415-foot home run over the left field fence off reliever Luis Vizcaino to hand the White Sox their third consecutive home loss.
Crede had tied the game in the eighth with a two-out RBI double off Curt Schilling, who is handling closer duties in place of injured Keith Foulke.
The White Sox (62-32) put themselves in several jams as left-handed ace Mark Buehrle failed to hold a 4-1 lead after four innings.
In the seventh, second baseman Tadahito Iguchi was charged with two errors on one play that allowed the Red Sox to tie the game and set up Kevin Millar’s go-ahead sacrifice fly off reliever Cliff Politte.
Iguchi’s miscues snapped his streak of 35 errorless games.
The White Sox also stranded runners in scoring position in the second, fifth and sixth innings but came up empty.
As a result, their lead in the AL Central dipped to 10 games ahead of Minnesota.
Buehrle was staked to a 4-1 lead after four innings thanks to the Sox’s power surge off Red Sox starter Matt Clement.
Carl Everett hit a two-run home run in the first, and Paul Konerko and Aaron Rowand hit solo shots in the fourth.
Konerko’s homer was his team-leading 22nd and Rowand’s homer was his first since his game-winning shot off San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman on June 12.
But Buehrle was in constant trouble against the Red Sox, who put the leadoff batter on base in five of the seven innings against him. Buehrle was the sixth consecutive left-handed starter Boston has faced.
Nevertheless, Buehrle pitched at least six innings for his 48th consecutive start, tying Jack McDowell’s club mark set in 1992-93. Hall of Fame left-hander Steve Carlton owns the next longest mark with 69 from 1979 to 1982 for Philadelphia.
Buehrle allowed two runs without getting an out in the fifth but worked out of further trouble when he induced Ramirez to hit into a force play, got Jason Varitek to foul out to first and struck out Millar on an 84 m.p.h. pitch to end the rally.
Buehrle allowed a leadoff single to Nixon in the sixth but needed only four pitches to complete the inning, thanks to newcomer Tony Graffanino hitting into an inning-ending double play.
In the second, Buehrle received a break when Troy Nixon broke late off third on a grounder hit to short. Juan Uribe noticed Nixon got a late jump and threw home in plenty of time to nail Nixon for the second out of the inning.
For the first time in four games, the Sox staked a starter to an early lead. Scott Podsednik led off the first with a single and stole his league-leading 49th base on the first pitch.
One out later, Everett launched a two-run homer against his former team. Everett handled the designated hitter duties in place of Frank Thomas, who has felt soreness in his left ankle.
The soreness isn’t believed to be serious enough to consider a trip to the disabled list.
Sox magic number
59 Sox wins, Twins losses for Sox to clinch AL Central.
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mgonzales@tribune.com
