Morning Box Score

By Matt Motyka in News on May 24, 2009 3:30PM

Sox Best Pirates
It was all Sox on Saturday evening as Chicago beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0. In his third start of the season Clayton Richard earned a favorable decision, throwing six shutout innings and allowing only four hits while striking out eight. By the time Richard was resting in the dugout, the Sox bats had put three runs on the board. Paul Konerko singled home Jermaine Dye in the fourth, and Alexei Ramirez went yard for the second straight game to make it 3-0 in the fifth. Dye then gave the bullpen some support in the eighth when he drove a solo shot over the left field wall, making a Pirates comeback even less likely. Octavio Dotel, Matt Thorton and Scott Linebrink--the club's three current ERA leaders--combined to allow two baserunners in the final three frames, as Pittsburg failed to advance a runner past second base in the contest. The White Sox will try for the series sweep behind Mark Buehrle at 1:05.

Padres Top Cubs
The San Diego Padres extended their winning streak to eight games with a 3-1 victory over the Cubs on Saturday, and the Cubs extended their streak to six games in the opposite direction. Looking to shake things up a little, manager Lou Pinella rearranged the batting order--most notably resting Alfonso Soriano and plugging Ryan Theriot into the lead-off spot. The shuffled lineup produced similar results, however, as the Cubs failed to post more than a run for the fifth consecutive game. Chicago's lone tally mark came in the second inning, courtesy of a Derrek Lee homer to left-center field. The faltering offense squandered another quality start by a Cubs pitcher, as Randy Wells turned in seven innings of five-hit, three-run baseball. Chicago finishes the series with San Diego at 3:05 today before returning home to host a struggling Pirates squad.