Sox’s Buehrle baffles Tigers

Chicago hangs on for 2-1 victory over Detroit

? The Chicago White Sox are used to winning close games.

Mark Buehrle outdueled Nate Robertson to win his ninth straight decision, Jermaine Dye hit a tiebreaking home run, and Dustin Hermanson survived a leadoff triple in the ninth inning Tuesday night as Chicago beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1.

“That’s the way we’ve been playing all year,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

Buehrle (10-1) allowed one run and eight hits in 62â3 innings, struck out six and walked none, lowering his ERA to 2.42.

“I fell behind in the count and threw hitter’s pitches,” he said. “And I’m lucky I got a couple of pitches.”

Buehrle recorded his final out by picking Nook Logan off first with one out in the seventh following a single. Cliff Politte followed with four straight outs, and Hermanson gained his 18th save in 19 chances.

“Probably one of the hairier ones,” Hermanson said. “It’s tough in the big leagues when a guy gets a leadoff triple and not give up a run.”

After Ivan Rodriguez’s leadoff triple, Dmitri Young fouled out, and Craig Monroe and Chris Shelton grounded out.

“The ball was hit hard enough to go out in any park but here,” Rodriguez said of the drive to the wall in right-center. “We couldn’t get the job done.”

Chicago, which leads the AL Central, broke a two-game losing streak and improved to a major-league-best 51-24.

Robertson (3-6) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings, struck out nine and walked two.

Dye’s 16th home run broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth, a drive to left-center.

“Early to the middle of the game, the ball was carrying,” Dye said.

Detroit took a 1-0 lead in the second on Shelton’s RBI single through a drawn-in infield after Monroe singled with one out, stole second and took third when catcher Chris Widger’s throw sailed into center. Buehrle had not allowed a run in his previous 27 innings.

Orioles 5, Yankees 4, 10 innings

Baltimore – Brian Roberts homered on Mike Stanton’s first pitch in the 10th inning, and Rafael Palmeiro hit a milestone shot for Baltimore, which snapped a six-game losing streak.

Larry Bigbie also homered for the Orioles, who rallied from a three-run deficit.

Palmeiro hit his 563rd homer to tie Reggie Jackson for ninth place. The two-run drive gave Palmeiro 1,813 RBIs, pushing him past Frank Robinson into 15th place.

Chicago's Mark Buehrle delivers against Detroit. Buehrle and the White Sox defeated the Tigers, 2-1, Tuesday night in Chicago.

Palmeiro needs 10 hits to join Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray as the only players in major-league history with 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.

Angels 5, Rangers 1, 11 innings

Arlington, Texas – Garret Anderson hit a grand slam in the 11th inning, and Los Angeles beat Texas for its eighth straight victory.

Anderson pulled a line drive into the first row of seats in the right-field stands for his ninth homer. It was his seventh career slam, his first since May 8, 2003, and it came on an 0-1 pitch from Brian Shouse, a left-handed reliever brought in specifically to face him.

The Angels loaded the bases with none out against Kameron Loe (0-1). Chone Figgins had a leadoff single before Darin Erstad doubled and Vladimir Guerrero, who has a hit in all 29 career games he’s played against the Rangers, was intentionally walked.

Los Angeles began its winning streak with a three-game sweep of the second-place Rangers last week.

Indians 12, Red Sox 8

Boston – Travis Hafner hit a grand slam off Keith Foulke in a five-run ninth inning, doubled twice and drove in six runs to lead Cleveland over Boston.

Boston, which lost its second straight following a seven-game winning streak, overcame deficits of 4-1 and 5-3, taking an 8-5 lead with a five-run sixth inning.

After Jhonny Peralta’s leadoff single in the eighth off Mike Timlin and Casey Blake’s one-out double, Foulke (5-4) relieved and allowed Hafner’s run-scoring groundout and Victor Martinez’s RBI single.

Matt Miller (1-0) pitched 21â3 scoreless innings, and Bob Wickman retired the Red Sox in order on three pitches in the bottom of the ninth.

Athletics 8, Mariners 1

Oakland, Calif. – Marco Scutaro homered, and Barry Zito earned the ninth straight win by an Oakland starter, leading the Athletics over Seattle for their season-high fifth consecutive victory.

Bobby Kielty hit a pair of two-run doubles for the surging A’s, who won their ninth in 10 games and 12th in 15 to improve to 19-8 in their last 27. Eric Chavez had three singles and drove in two runs.

Ichiro Suzuki, who had three hits, homered to center leading off the game, his sixth of the season and third leadoff homer this year. It was his 15th career leadoff home run, but last-place Seattle still lost its third straight and fourth in five games.

Blue Jays 3, Devil Rays 1, 11 innings

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Defensive replacement Gabe Gross bailed Toronto out of one last jam, and John McDonald snapped an 11th-inning tie with an infield hit to help the Blue Jays beat Tampa Bay. Gross saved the night for the Blue Jays, entering the game in left field with runners at first and third and one out in the bottom of the 10th and throwing out Eric Munson at the plate to complete an inning-ending double play.