Two years ago, Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle came within a single walk of recording a perfect game as he notched a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers on April 18, 2007.
Today, Buehrle bettered that achievement, mowing down the potent Tampa Bay lineup from start to finish without allowing a single runner to notch his second career no-hitter and the first perfect game in the majors since Randy Johnson did it for Arizona against Atlanta on May 18, 2004.
Buehrle threw 116 pitches and struck out six hitters on the way to improving to 11-3 on the season, and he got all the offensive help he needed when Josh Fields hit a grand slam off of Scott Kazmir in the second inning.
Just like Jonathan Sanchez got a big catch in center in the ninth inning to preserve his no-hitter (from a former White Sox player in Aaron Rowand, no less) against the Padres two weeks ago, Buehrle got some ninth-inning defensive help in center today, with Dewayne Wise robbing Gabe Kapler of a homer just after he’d entered the game as a defensive replacement. How’s that for instant impact?
Better yet for the White Sox, they wrapped up a series win over the streaking Rays with today’s win, and thanks to Seattle’s series win over Detroit, the White Sox are now tied atop the AL Central with the Tigers.
