2-hitter? Not enough for White Sox

By Mark Gonzales Tribune staff reporter

The White Sox concluded their May misery Thursday with a series of season lows.

Mark Buehrle's two-hit complete game resulted in a 2-0 loss at Toronto that equaled the club's longest losing streak at five games.

The only two hits Buehrle allowed were home runs to Aaron Hill and former teammate Frank Thomas. Those were the only hitters to reach base against Buehrle, but Roy Halladay outdueled him as each of them was trying for his 100th career victory.

Thomas' homer was his fifth against the Sox and the 495th of his career. His 243 homers as a designated hitter tie him with Edgar Martinez for the most at that position.

To exacerbate matters, the Sox lost center fielder Darin Erstad for an indefinite period with a left ankle injury. Erstad suffered probable ligament damage when he swung at a pitch in the sixth inning and fell down in obvious pain.

Outfielder Jerry Owens, who was batting .305 with 23 stolen bases at Triple-A Charlotte, was expected to be promoted and take Erstad's spot in center.

"Losing a game like that, it's hard to think about," said manager Ozzie Guillen, whose Sox completed May with a 12-14 record and fell below .500 at 24-25 for the first time since May 8.

Halladay, in his first start since coming off the disabled list after an appendectomy, didn't allow a runner past first base after the third inning.

But the third haunted the Sox. Rob Mackowiak led off with a single and moved to third on Juan Uribe's double—his first extra-base hit since May 12.

But Mackowiak was thrown out at home on Erstad's grounder to first base. Erstad was thrown out trying to steal second on the next pitch and Tadahito Iguchi grounded out.

"[Halladay] is as good as it gets," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "It doesn't matter if he was on the DL or not. The stuff he was running up there tonight … he didn't make any mistakes.

"He found a new weapon. He used to throw a cut fastball not as hard. Now he's throwing it 92 m.p.h. He's not throwing anything straight."