White Sox lead Indians, 5-1, through six.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- This is a daily briefing of the Indians' 2010 regular season. The Tribe plays host to the White Sox today at Progressive Field.
Game 45
Pitching matchup: Indians RHP Jake Westbrook (2-2, 4.56) vs. White Sox LHP Mark Buehrle (3-5, 4.55)
In-game updates:
The White Sox led the Tribe, 5-1, through six innings. They lost manager Ozzie Guillen and starting pitcher Mark Buehrle to ejection in the first three innings.
Chicago scored three in the fourth for a 3-0 advantage.
Juan Pierre doubled to left-center and advanced to third on a grounder. After Alex Rios walked, Paul Konerko drove in Pierre with a single to left. Austin Kearns made an errant throw attempting to get Rios at third, allowing Konerko to move to second.
Mark Kotsay was intentionally walked. Westbrook struck out Carlos Quentin but gave up a two-run single to Mark Teahen.
The Indians pulled within 3-1 in their half of the third.
Kearns led off with a single and moved to third on Russell Branyan's double to right. Tony Pena replaced Randy Williams and gave up a sacrifice fly to Jhonny Peralta.
Matt LaPorta grounded to shortstop Alexei Ramirez, who cut down Branyan at third. Branyan took off as the ball was hit, stopped and restarted.
Luis Valbuena struck out looking for the third out.
The White Sox made it 5-1 on Kotsay's two-run homer in the sixth.
The Tribe put runners on first and second in the sixth. Nothing else happened because of a flyout, flyout and groundout.
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen (second inning) and starting pitcher Mark Buehrle (third) were ejected by first-base umpire Joe West.
West called a balk on Buehrle in the second for breaking the plane on his stride toward first, where Matt LaPorta stood after a single. Buehrle apparently squawked at West, who began moving toward Buehrle. Guillen came out to keep the peace but became enraged when West dismissively waved him back to the dugout.
In the third, West called another balk on Buehrle for the same reason. Jason Donald was on first. Buehrle's first reaction was to drop his glove, which West viewed as showing him up. West immediately tossed him.
Buehrle, who threw 36 pitches in his 2 1/3 innings, was relieved by lefty Randy Williams.
With runners on first and third, Williams got Shin-Soo Choo to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to keep the game scoreless.
Tribe right-hander Jake Westbrook allowed one hit -- a bunt single by Alexei Ramirez with one out in the third. Westbrook reached the ball along the third-base side but had not play. Moments later, Ramirez was erased on a 4-3-6 double play.
Six of Chicago's outs were by flyout.
Pregame notes
Power surge: Indians shortstop Jason Donald was humble Wednesday morning when discussing his first major-league homer. The previous night, he went deep off White Sox right-hander Jake Peavy in a 7-3 victory.
"I closed my eyes and swung,'' he said with a chuckle. "I felt like I made good contact, and I knew it had a chance. But I don't hit many homers, so I needed to see the ball clear the wall before I believed it.''
Donald's shot off Peavy, a former N.L. Cy Young winner, led off the third inning. The ball sailed into the left-field bleachers.
The homer was Donald's third of the season. He hit the first two at Class AAA Columbus, for which he played 37 games until being promoted May 18.
Entering this season, Donald had 29 homers in 359 minor-league games since his pro debut in 2006.
Donald said he spoke by phone with his father and former coach, Tom, late Tuesday night. Tom Donald was coaching Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif., in the playoffs when he heard the news about his son's homer.
"The athletic director told him in the middle of the game,'' Donald said. "My dad told him, 'I'll check it out later.'''
To acquire the home-run ball, the Indians traded a Shin-Soo Choo autographed baseball and four tickets.
"Choo picked me up,'' Donald said. "That's a good teammate.''
Asked if he was hurt that the fan did not ask for a Donald autographed item, the shortstop said: "Not at all. I'd be asking for something from Choo, too.''
Choo was more than happy to help.
"I know how special the first home-run ball is,'' he said. "I will never forget my first homer. I can't forget that game.''
Who can blame Choo?
On July 26, 2006, the Indians acquired Choo from the Seattle Mariners. To days later, he made his Tribe debut -- against the Mariners. He homered off none other than "King'' Felix Hernandez in the Indians' 1-0 victory.
Long time coming: In the eighth inning Tuesday night, Indians second baseman Luis Valbuena's squeeze bunt drove in Austin Kearns. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it was the Tribe's first successful squeeze since May 17, 2003, when Omar Vizquel bunted and Matt Lawton scored against the Athletics.
Lineups:
White Sox (19-26) -- 1. Juan Pierre lf; 2. A.J. Pierzynski c; 3. Alex Rios cf; 4. Paul Konerko 1b; 5. Mark Kotsay dh; 6. Carlos Quentin rf; 7. Mark Teahen 3b; 8. Alexei Ramirez ss; 9. Gordon Beckham 2b; and Buehrle.
Indians (17-27) -- 1. Trevor Crowe cf; 2. Shin-Soo Choo rf; 3. Austin Kearns lf; 4. Russell Branyan 1b; 5. Jhonny Peralta 3b; 6. Matt LaPorta dh; 7. Luis Valbuena 2b; 8. Lou Marson c; 9. Jason Donald ss; and Westbrook.
Umpires: P -- Rob Drake; 1b -- Joe West; 2b -- Angel Hernandez; 3b -- Paul Schrieber.
Next: Off-day Thursday before four-game series against Yankees in the Bronx.