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CHICAGO (AP) -
Jered Weaver
took advantage of the
White Sox
weakness again.
Weaver pitched three-hit ball over eight innings and
Vladimir Guerrero
hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth to lead the
Los Angeles Angels
over Chicago 2-0 on Saturday.
Weaver (4-5) struck out six, walked two and improved to 3-0 with an 0.34 ERA in four career starts against the
White Sox
.
Francisco Rodriguez
pitched a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 21st save in 22 changes.
''You get one team that you have to battle against and there seems to be one team that you have a pretty good grasp on. They
have a great offensive lineup. I just have a good idea of what holes they have and I try to keep them off-balance,'' said
Weaver.
Los Angeles has won five of six, while the
White Sox
lost their second straight following a season-best, eight-game winning streak.
After walking
Orlando Cabrera
in the first inning, Weaver retired 12 of the next 14 batters. He also retired his final 11 batters before Rodriguez relieved.
After his last start Weaver made a small change to his mechanics.
''I made a slight adjustment. I felt like I wasn't going through the target,'' said Weaver. ''I was falling backward which
was disrupting my command a little bit. I have been concentrating on driving straight through the mitt.''
He was aided in the fifth by Gary Matthews Jr., who made a sliding stop on
Nick Swisher
's drive to the right-field warning track and then threw out Swisher trying to stretch the hit to a double. Matthews also
made a diving catch to end the game on
Jermaine Dye
's ball.
John Danks
(3-4) allowed two runs and five hits in five-plus innings.
White Sox
catcher A.J. Pierzynski and manager
Ozzie Guillen
were ejected in the ninth for arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Alfonso Marquez. It was Guillen's second ejection
of the season.
''I'm going to protect my players when I see a little inconsistent (calls),'' said Guillen. ''The last thing as a manager
is going out there arguing strike and balls and safe (and) outs. You are not going to win that one no matter if you're right
or wrong. It is my job to protect my players and that's what I did.''
Guerrero hit the first pitch of the sixth inning for his seventh homer of the season.
''It was just a bad changeup to him. I can second guess myself all I want, but that's been a very effective pitch for me against
him. I didn't think he would be sitting on it early on in the count.''
Torii Hunter
followed with a double that chased Danks.
Guerrero came into the game with a .254 batting average, his lowest average in his career after 48 games.
''It's just a matter of time for the big fella to get going. He has been swinging the bat a lot better.
Octavio Dotel
walked
Juan Rivera
, and
Casey Kotchman
hit an RBI single. Left fielder
Carlos Quentin
's second throwing error of the game advanced the runners, but Dotel recovered by striking out
Jeff Mathis
,
Brandon Wood
and
Sean Rodriguez
.
Notes: Angels INF
Chone Figgins
missed his third straight game because of a strained right hamstring. ...
White Sox
1B
Paul Konerko
missed his second straight game with an injured right hand. ... While pinch-running in the ninth,
Reggie Willits
got stepped on and sustained a cut on his finger which required stitches.
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