Mark Buehrle was perfect. And then, for six weeks, he was winless.
Buehrle won for the first time since his gem on July 23, ending his eight-start drought by pitching the White Sox over the Boston Red Sox 5-1 on Monday.
As if he needed a reminder, his teammates let Buehrle know how long it had been.
“A couple of guys joked around and said I got to buy them something like I did on the perfect game and the no-hitter,” Buehrle said. “It’s obviously nice to go out there and score some runs.”
Buehrle (12-7) outpitched Josh Beckett (14-6), scattering eight hits over seven-plus innings. The White Sox lefty had been 0-4 with a 5.44 ERA since his perfect game against Tampa Bay.
Carlos Quentin hit a two-run homer in the eighth as the White Sox took three of four from the AL wild-card leaders.
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Guillen: I don’t care
After the mundane questions were out of the way, manager Ozzie Guillen went on a dissertation about his blunt style that seems to shock or irritate outsiders and sometimes his players. “When you’re honest, everything’s out there,” Guillen said Monday. “That’s the way it is. That’s the way baseball should be. That’s why a lot of managers get fired. Because they worry about what to say, what to do, who to please. They’re scared of a couple players because they make $20 million. The 23 others, they don’t care. I don’t care, I really don’t.”
