Hall, Quentin homer as Buehrle pitches ChiSox past Pirates

CHICAGO (AP) -- With Paul Konerko sidelined, the White Sox found an unlikely power source in Toby Hall.

The backup catcher hit his first home run in two years to back Mark Buehrle's strong outing and power the Chicago White Sox to an 8-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.

Buehrle lost a no-hit bid in the sixth when Jose Bautista homered on the first pitch.

Carlos Quentin slugged his 17th homer, Brian Anderson added his third and Nick Swisher hit a two-run double in the easy victory, a day after the White Sox's 16-5 win over the visiting Pirates, who can't seem to win on either side of the Windy City.

"Everybody has to contribute," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Everybody has a job to do and has to chip in a little bit for us to be where we want to be."

Hall was injured for most of last season -- his first with the team -- and has just 57 at-bats this year. The right-handed hitter was starting against left-hander Tom Gorzelanny and belted a shot into the bullpen in left to give the White Sox a 2-0 lead in the second. It was his first homer since June 4, 2006, when he was with Tampa Bay.

"How about that," Hall said. "I've been getting close on some, but it's nice to be in there this year and healthy, and contribute some."

With Konerko on the shelf with a strained left oblique, the White Sox won their second straight and improved to 6-2 in interleague play and 23-11 at home. The Pirates lost for the seventh time in eight games this season in Chicago, and have dropped four of their last five overall.

Quentin homered in the fifth to end a 1-for-18 slump and Anderson hit one to left in the sixth. The intense Quentin has had a tough month after a fast start. He had gone 37 at-bats without homering and his average has dropped 23 points.

"I'll take .270 with 17 [homers] as a slump any day," Anderson said.

Jim Thome hit a bloop single to center that scored Orlando Cabrera in the seventh, and Swisher drove in two more.

Buehrle, who pitched the White Sox's last no-hitter on April 18, 2007, retired the first 12 before walking Jason Bay to lead off the fifth, but got a double play and a flyout to end the inning. The next inning Bautista hit his seventh homer, going deep for the second straight game and third time in four games. Chris Gomez followed with a single before Buehrle escaped with no more damage.

"It was in my mind out there," Buehrle said of the no-hit bid. "I was throwing the ball well all game. I had good stuff, everything was working. The only concern was that I was giving up a lot of fly ball outs. When I'm throwing ground balls, I think I have better stuff."

Bautista was just trying to stay aggressive against the soft-tossing lefty.

"It was a changeup," he said. "I wasn't waiting for it but I could sense that he was trying to throw that pitch early in the count. I wasn't looking for it but he just left it up so I kind of reacted to it."

Buehrle (4-6) won his second straight decision, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks in eight innings. He struck out three and threw only 96 pitches. He looks to be rebounding from a poor first two months, going eight innings for the third straight start.

"For some people it takes a little longer," Hall said. "Maybe he wasn't ready right out of the gate. We'll take that anytime."

Buehrle is now 15-6 in interleague play. Why is he so good against the National League?

"They've never seen his slop before," catcher A.J. Pierzynski cracked.

Gorzelanny (5-6), from nearby suburb Evergreen Park, Ill., gave up four runs on five hits in six innings. He is 0-3 in Chicago this season and wasn't in the mood to talk about it.

"I'm here to do my job, I'm here to pitch," Gorzelanny said. "I'm not worried about where I'm at or what field I'm on. I'm just worried about doing my job and giving us a chance."

Pirates second baseman Luis Rivas added a run-scoring single in the eighth, but dropped Alexei Ramirez's popup near first in the bottom of the inning, allowing Juan Uribe to score from second with two outs.

Game notes
Guillen said DH Thome might play some first base during interleague play at Wrigley Field this weekend because regular 1B Paul Konerko is on the DL. Swisher has been filling in at first. ... The White Sox have already signed four of their top five draft picks, including GM Kenny Williams' son, Kenny Jr., a sixth-round choice, and 19 picks total. Their top pick, Georgia SS Gordon Beckham, is still playing in the College World Series.