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Tuesday, Aug. 29 10:05pm ET
Baldwin beats A's in return to rotation | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- James Baldwin, who skipped his last start with a tired arm, felt so strong after 12 days of rest that he didn't want to come out of the game. The White Sox right-hander pitched five innings Tuesday night and earned his career-high 14th victory in Chicago's 3-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics. "I felt good. I wanted to get out there for a few more," said Baldwin, who gave up five hits and combined with reliever Mike Buehrle and closer Keith Foulke to blank the Athletics in what turned out to be another well-pitched game between two of the AL's most explosive teams. "But we have a great bullpen; the bullpen had a tremendous outing," Baldwin added. Baldwin (14-5) gave up all five of the Athletics' hits, struck out two and walked one. Chicago manager Jerry Manuel said the plan was to have Baldwin throw in the range of 100 pitches, but that changed and Baldwin came out after throwing only 74. "I don't think he had his good stuff, but when he needed ground balls, he got them," Manuel said. "He economized his pitches." Paul Konerko's three-run homer in the second inning spoiled what was otherwise a fine outing by Oakland rookie Barry Zito (2-3). "One mistake, the three-run homer, was the difference," Oakland manager Art Howe said. "Zito doesn't make many mistakes." Zito allowed the three runs on four hits over seven innings, striking out five and walking four. "I left it up and over the plate," Zito said of the 0-1 pitch to Konerko. "That's how it is up here in the bigs; you make one mistake and it's costly." Buehrle pitched three scoreless innings for Chicago, and Foulke pitched a perfect ninth for his 25th save in 30 opportunities. The White Sox parlayed three consecutive hits for runs in the second. Carlos Lee led off with an infield single as Athletics third baseman Eric Chavez whirled around to snare the hard grounder but fell on the play and was too late with the throw to first. Herbert Perry followed with a bloop single to center, then Konerko drove a pitch from Zito over the fence in left for his 16th homer. Baldwin struggled in the fifth, but escaped unscathed. He gave up a one-out walk to Eric Chavez, then consecutive singles to Ramon Hernandez and Terrence Long to load the bases. The White Sox right-hander then got Randy Velarde to ground into an inning-ending double play. Baldwin topped his personal high of 13 wins, which he accomplished in 1998. The shutout by the White Sox, their sixth of the year, came a night after Oakland's Tim Hudson beat them 3-0 with a one-hitter. Game notesThe White Sox announced after the game that they had released RHP Ken Hill, who had given up eight runs in three innings since signing with them recently. ... Baldwin has won 22 of his last 29 decisions dating to Aug. 1 of last year. ... Chicago's Frank Thomas needs to score one run and draw three walks to have 100 RBI, 100 runs scored and 100 walks for the ninth time in his 10 major league seasons. He already has 120 RBI. ... Oakland's Jason Giambi was back in the lineup after missing two consecutive games and seven overall because of a sore left shoulder. An MRI on Monday revealed no damage in the shoulder, and the plan was for Giambi also to DH on Wednesday, then have a cortisone shot after that game if his shoulder is still sore. The A's are off Thursday, and he would be able to play again on Friday. ... White Sox RHP Cal Eldred, on the DL since July 17 with a nerve problem in his right elbow, allowed one hit and no runs over three innings in his first rehab start Tuesday for Triple-A Charlotte at Richmond. Eldred threw 29 pitches, walked none and had no strikeouts. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Chi. White Sox Clubhouse Oakland Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 8 Tampa Bay 0
Chi. White Sox 3
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