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TORONTO (AP) -
Shaun Marcum
was struggling to hold down his lunch, but had no such trouble with the
Chicago White Sox
.
Marcum struck out a season-high nine,
Shannon Stewart
drove in the only runs and the
Toronto Blue Jays
beat the
White Sox
2-0 on Friday night, handing Chicago its third straight defeat.
Marcum (3-2) won for the first time in three starts, lowering his ERA to 2.70. He allowed just two hits, both singles by
Orlando Cabrera
, and walked three.
''I felt fine all day,'' said Marcum, who began feeling ill while the
Blue Jays
were in Boston earlier this week. ''When I was warming up, maybe from running around or something, my stomach felt like it
wasn't going to be able to keep anything down. I threw up after the first and the second, but other than that I was able to
hang with it.''
Marcum's illness was news to catcher
Gregg Zaun
.
''I had absolutely no idea,'' he said. ''He didn't show any signs of it. His fastball was still as hard as it ever was. I
had everything at my disposal tonight.''
Marcum, who had soup and a banana for lunch, was still feeling unsettled after the game.
''When I went into the lunchroom I almost threw up again, seeing the food,'' he said.
Jeremy Accardo
relieved Marcum after back-to-back walks with two out in the seventh. Accardo loaded the bases by walking
Brian Anderson
, but got
Juan Uribe
on a fly out to right.
The
White Sox
, who have lost six of nine, have the lowest batting average in the American League (.237) and are a measly 6-for-46 with
runners in scoring position in their past six games.
''It's a shame when our pitching staff is doing real good and we're not helping them to win games,''
White Sox
manager
Ozzie Guillen
said.
Guillen said he plans to shake up the lineup Saturday, replacing Uribe with
Pablo Ozuna
and dropping
Jermaine Dye
to sixth in the order.
Toronto left-hander
Jesse Carlson
worked the eighth, right-hander
Shawn Camp
struck out one batter in the ninth and lefty
Scott Downs
closed it out for his second save.
The
Blue Jays
have won two straight, both shutouts, after losing eight of their previous nine - including six in a row. Toronto beat Boston
3-0 on Thursday.
Chicago left-hander
Mark Buehrle
(1-3) was the hard-luck loser, giving up two runs - both unearned - on five hits in eight innings. He hasn't won since April
6 at Detroit, a span of four starts.
Buehrle also lost 2-0 to Toronto last May 31, a game in which the only two hits he allowed were solo home runs by
Frank Thomas
and
Aaron Hill
.
''That's the second time they've broken this kid's heart,'' Guillen said.
The
Blue Jays
scored the only runs with two out in the first.
Scott Rolen
reached on third baseman
Joe Crede
's throwing error and went to third on a ground-rule double by
Vernon Wells
. Both runners scored when Stewart singled up the middle.
''When a mistake is made, you've got to capitalize on it,'' Wells said. ''We were able to do that tonight and the two runs
held up.''
Toronto missed a chance to add to its lead in the fourth after back-to-back singles by Wells and Stewart put runners aboard
with nobody out.
Lyle Overbay
struck out swinging and Zaun was caught looking before Buehrle got
Adam Lind
to ground out.
''We're still not throwing out five or six runs a game like we're capable of,'' Zaun said. ''For whatever reason, we just
haven't been able to get it going.''
Blue Jays
shortstop
John McDonald
made a great play to throw out Cabrera in the eighth, grabbing a deflection off Rolen's glove and bouncing his throw to first
one step ahead of the runner.
Notes:
White Sox
1B
Paul Konerko
(sore right thumb) missed his second straight start but is expected to return Saturday. ... Chicago placed INF/OF
Alexei Ramirez
on the restricted list before the game and recalled RHP Adam Russell from Triple-A Charlotte. Ramirez, a Cuban defector, cannot
travel outside the United States on his work visa. ... The game was played in a brisk 2 hours, 10 minutes.
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