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Sale leads Chicago White Sox past Toronto Blue Jays

By Brian Hedger, The Sports Xchange

CHICAGO -- Chris Sale attended "Mark Buehrle School," as Buehrle's teammate on the Chicago White Sox a few years ago, and that pitching education has paid off.

Sale is one of the game's elite pitchers now and proved it again with another dominating performance to out-duel Buehrle in the White Sox's 4-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday at U.S. Cellular Field.

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Sale (7-4) did not become the first major-league pitcher in history to strike out 10 or more hitters in nine straight starts, but he did pitch another gem on the day he made the American League All-Star Game roster for the fourth time in his career.

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"Every time there's two strikes, everybody's making some noise," Sale said of the crowd, which loudly cheered each of his six strikeouts. "But it didn't work out. I'll take this outcome over (the record) any day. It's one of those things. It's cool. It's fine. But we won the game and I'm not (going to) pout at all."

Chicago's current left-handed ace (Sale), studied the White Sox's former left-handed ace (Buehrle) for two seasons in Chicago. He picked up some useful pointers and now applies them along with a nasty repertoire that is hard to pick up out of his hand.

"(With) the stuff he has, he should dominate guys," said Buehrle, who went eight innings, allowed nine hits and was charged with four runs (none earned). "If I had that, I feel like I'd strike out 20 every game. But he's outstanding. Everybody knew that coming into it. We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game, and we got a couple runs there and gave us a chance to take the lead. But that's just what he is. He shuts guys down."

Buerhle, who had posted wins in four straight outings coming into the game, did the same until the eighth. A fielding error by shortstop Jose Reyes sparked a Chicago rally that led to three runs on three hits, including a key two-run double by left-fielder Melky Cabrera for the winning runs.

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Until then, Sale and Buehrle matched wits. They worked quickly and the game finished in 1 hour, 54 minutes. Sale, who allowed six hits and didn't walk any, worked at Buehrle's pace. Buehrle worked at his own pace.

"They were working fast," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "You saw both of them (doing it). Even Chris probably picked it up a little bit pace-wise. Grasshopper learn well, apparently. He learned under Mark."

Asked again about Buehrle mentoring Sale, Ventura came up with an idea for Major League Baseball to think about.

"There should be a school," said Ventura, who never managed Buehrle. "They have to go to 'Mark Buehrle School' before they get to the big leagues. You just grab the ball and throw. It's fun to watch. Everybody should learn under him -- just grab it, throw it, don't overthink it."

The Blue Jays got their runs off Sale on solo homers in the third by first baseman Chris Colabello and in the sixth by third baseman Josh Donaldson, his 20th of the season. That gave Toronto a 2-1 lead, which looked like the possible winning margin until the White Sox's eighth.

"It was a blast," said Buehrle, who was given a standing ovation by White Sox fans before the game coming back from the bullpen. "Hopefully we gave the fans what they came for. It was a quick game. I know everybody likes that, or most of the people like that, so it's always fun pitching a game like this."

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NOTES: Blue Jays RF Jose Bautista and C Russell Martin were named to the American League All-Star roster as reserves. They join 3B Josh Donaldson, who was voted a starter. ... LHP Chris Sale was named to the AL roster for the White Sox. ... White Sox RHP Jeff Samardzija, who can become a free agent in the offseason, is trying to ignore talk about him possibly being on the trade block. He learned from last season, when he was traded from the Chicago Cubs to the Oakland A's. "I probably watched and paid attention a little more last time and things ended up happening that had nothing do with anything (rumored)," Samardzija said. "It taught me to not pay attention to it and go about my business." ... The Blue Jays haven't officially named a starter for Tuesday, but the most likely candidate is LHP Felix Doubront. ... White Sox RHP Nate Jones, who had Tommy John surgery, said he might go on a minor-league rehab assignment within the next couple weeks.

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