Buerhle gets third straight W as White Sox sweep A's

CHICAGO (AP) -- Mark Buehrle pitched well against a team that had roughed him up over the years. That made beating Oakland a big deal for him and the Chicago White Sox, who finished off their first sweep of Oakland since 1997.

Buehrle allowed six hits in seven innings of the White Sox's 3-2 victory over the Athletics on Wednesday night, getting his first victory against Oakland since 2003.

"I didn't know it was that long. I know I'd struggled against these guys, seems like I had some bad luck games," Buehrle said.

Buehrle extended his stretch of innings without surrendering an earned run to 21 and won his third straight start. He was backed by some strong defensive plays as the White Sox sent Oakland to a season-worst fifth straight loss.

Jermaine Dye reached over the wall to take a home run away from Mark Kotsay in the first, Joe Crede made a diving stop in the seventh and Scott Podsednik had a running catch of a Kotsay liner to end that inning and stop an Oakland threat.

"We made a lot of good defensive plays and that's a sign of a good team," said Dye, who later dropped a flyball in the eighth. "You got a pitcher out there pitching well and you want to make the plays behind him. We're not always going to score a lot of runs to win."

Kotsay said Dye's catch was a big one because getting to Buehrle early is a must.

"If the ball goes out in the first, it's 1-0, one on the board and here we go," Kotsay said. "You got a jump on him. What are you going to say? Nice play, I guess."

The White Sox got a scare in the second when shortstop Juan Uribe was hit in the helmet by a Dan Haren pitch and had to leave the game. Uribe was checked out by the team's medical staff and wasn't seriously injured.

The ball cracked the flap on his batting helmet and Uribe was a bit dizzy but OK, manager Ozzie Guillen said.

"Everything is fine. His eyes are OK, his nose is fine and no broken bones," Guillen said. "I talked to him after the game and he felt fine."

The A's did get the lead. Kotsay singled in the third and moved up on A.J. Pierzynski's passed ball before Eric Chavez hit an RBI single.

The White Sox ended Haren's scoreless streak at 19 innings in the fifth when Rob Mackowiak doubled under Nick Swisher's glove at first and scored on Podsednik's double. Jim Thome delivered a two-out single to give Chicago its first lead at 2-1.

Dye walked and moved up on an infield out in the sixth before Mackowiak hit an RBI single for 3-1 lead.

"I had better stuff than six innings, three runs," Haren said. "I should have been bouncing balls in some situations and unfortunately I left a few up."

Buehrle (6-2), with just a 3-8 record in his career against Oakland, also got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second against a hitter who's owned him most of his career.

After two walks and a single loaded the bases with two outs, Buehrle retired the side by getting Bobby Kielty to bounce into a forceout. Kielty was 16-for-40 with two homers against the left-hander entering the game. In 2002, Kielty homered in the eighth inning of Buehrle's final start, denying him a 20-win season.

"Early in my career it seems everything I threw up there he hit," Buehrle said. "It was good to get a groundball."

In the Oakland eighth, the White Sox's defense faltered. After Cliff Politte gave up a single to Chavez, Jeff Nelson came on and Frank Thomas blooped another single to right to put runners at first and third with one out.

Reliever Matt Thornton got Swisher to hit a fly to right-center, but Dye stepped in front of center fielder Mackowiak and dropped the ball for an error as Chavez scored to make it 3-2.

"Regardless of whether I made the catch or not, the run was going to score anyway," Dye said. "It was so loud you couldn't hear and he didn't hear me call."

Bobby Jenks then struck out Jason Kendall to end the rally and also pitched a perfect ninth for his 13th save in 14 chances.

Haren (4-4) allowed six hits while giving up three runs in six innings with two walks and six strikeouts. He had won three straight starts. ^Notes:@ Frank Thomas was 1-for-3 with another walk. He finished the three-game set against his former team 4-for-9 with two homers, two singles and four walks. He also was hit by a pitch. ... The A's have dominated the White Sox the last several years, winning five straight season series and are still 34-14 against Chicago since 2001. ... It is the White Sox's first sweep of the A's since 1997 when they won a four-game set at U.S. Cellular Field and a three-game series at Oakland. ... The crowd of 38,434 was the White Sox's sixth sellout in a row.