Mark Buehrle didn’t receive credit for a victory in his comeback Tuesday on a night Joe Crede saved a depleted offense.
Crede capped a four-hit game with an RBI single in the 10th inning that ignited a three-run outburst and vaulted the Sox to a 7-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Crede’s hit came two innings after the Royals scored twice in the eighth off left-hander Matt Thornton to prevent Buehrle from earning his first victory since June 27.
Buehrle, who had lost five consecutive starts and had an 11.48 ERA during that span, allowed two runs on four hits in six innings. His only blemish was Reggie Sanders’ two-run homer in the first inning. He retired the final 10 batters he faced, and 13 of his last 14.
After Crede’s single, the Sox added insurance runs on Ross Gload’s double and Brian Anderson’s single. Those runs became important because Angel Berroa led off the bottom of the 10th with a homer off closer Bobby Jenks.
The Sox (63-42) remained 7 1/2 games behind Detroit in the American League Central.
The victory came at a cost when designated Paul Konerko had to leave the game shortly after getting nailed above the left elbow on an errant pitch from Scott Dohmann in the sixth.
Konerko was taken to an area hospital for X-rays.
Thornton was five outs away from giving Buehrle the victory until allowing a walk and three consecutive hits to snap a streak of seven scoreless outings.
David Riske, however, induced Emil Brown to hit into an inning-ending double play and struck out the side in the ninth.
Newly acquired catcher Sandy Alomar helped Buehrle from behind–and at–the plate.
With Alomar catching, Buehrle has a 36-22 record with a 3.67 ERA in 506 1/3 innings dating to the 2001 season. This was the first time Buehrle had worked with Alomar since Sept. 20, 2004.
Alomar’s two-out single in the eighth inning scored Alex Cintron for what appeared to be an insurance run.
The Sox employed their 51st different lineup, and it might have been their most unpredictable. Jermaine Dye batted in the third spot for the first time, filling in for the injured Jim Thome.
Crede batted fifth, in Dye’s spot, and Cintron, starting in place of shortstop Juan Uribe, was in the sixth spot for only the fifth time this season.
Alomar made his second start since joining the Sox on July 24, and Gload batted in the eighth spot for the second time.
Pablo Ozuna batted leadoff because the Royals started left-hander Odalis Perez, who was making his first start with them after being dealt by Los Angeles on July 25.
In the fourth, Crede achieved his single-season high by hitting his 23rd homer. Crede has 15 homers in his last 39 games.
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mgonzales@tribune.com
