Buehrle off, but still too much for K.C.

? Mark Buehrle never would have predicted he’d have this kind of outing – not based on his warmups.

“Today I was doing the rain dance in the first inning, hoping the rain would come because I felt that bad in the bullpen,” Buehrle said. “Today was one of those days where I hope I don’t feel like this too often.”

It’s a good thing the dance didn’t work.

Buehrle pitched five-hit ball for seven innings to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 4-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

Ken Griffey Jr. hit an RBI single in the first inning then made a sliding catch in the second, and Jermaine Dye added an RBI double to help keep the White Sox a half-game ahead of the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central.

The Sox played without Carlos Quentin for the second straight game. Quentin was struck on the left forearm by a pitch from Josh Beckett on Monday. He has been hit by a pitch in five straight games – the first player since 1920 with that long of a streak, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.