Mark Buehrle was jovial after the sixth inning.
He was content enough with his situation in the game that when a fellow player asked how he was feeling in the dugout, he simply replied, "I've got a no-hitter."
Most pitchers treat talking about a no-hitter during a game the same as saying Macbeth before actors put on the play, but Buehrle didn't seem to have a care in the world. He was acting invincible, and he certainly looked like it, until the seventh inning.
Buerhle pitched six innings of perfect ball, before his words came back to haunt him in the seventh. He gave up a double to Placido Polanco, and then issued two walks, before getting himself out of a bases loaded jam.
He ended up pitching eight innings on the night, with just the one hit, and two walks.
The Sox offense proved that it could be feast or famine not just for a stretch, but for a single game, as well. In the first inning, the South Siders put up five runs, two coming off of the bat of A.J. Pierzynski, who hit a two-run homer into deep right.
Paul Konerko put up a two-run double in first two drive a couple more across home plate, along with Jermaine Dye's RBI single, but then the famine kicked in.
The Sox wouldn't get another run until Jayson Nix came up to the plate, and hit his first career home run, a bomb into right field, up into the bleachers.
The six run cushion seemed to be plenty enough for the Sox to cruise to a victory, and Bobby Jenks was put in to pitch the ninth, but he managed to scare a few fans, allowing Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco to get on base, before getting himself out of a jam, striking out former White Sox player Magglio Ordonez.
Big Stats To Note: This is the best start Buehrle has in his whole career, finally going 5-0, and since 2001, he has the most quality starts of any major league pitcher, with 175.
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