Mark Buehrle Learns You Can't Catch With Your Elbow

For the second time in three games, a White Sox starter wasn't able to make it through two innings. Unlike Jose Contreras, Mark Buehrle's exit from Thursday afternoons game had nothing to do with his performance.

After getting one out in the second inning, Ryan Garko hit a line drive right back up the middle that smacked into Buehrle's arm hard enough that the thud could be heard throughout the ball park. After trainer Herm Schneider and Ozzie Guillen came out to check on him, Buehrle quickly left the game with a knot already forming on his arm.

"It just went numb. I didn't know if anything really happened until I looked down and it kind of balled up," Buehrle said. "My heart kind of stopped because I thought it was broken at first. I've never seen anything like that happen."

The x-rays came back negative, and the left-hander is listed as day-to-day.

Before he left the game, Mark made sure to give up the the obligatory lead off home run to Grady Sizemore. Nick Massett came in for Buehrle and lasted for 4.2 innings, allowing four hits and a run.

The White Sox would go on to avoid being swept at home to start the season when Roberto Hernandez hit A.J. Pierzynski in the elbow with the bases loaded and nobody out. Rob Mackowiak scored the final run in the Sox' 4-3 victory.

Of course, it wouldn't be a play involving A.J. Pierzynski if there wasn't controversy. When asked afterwards if he thought Pierzynski did enough to get out of the way, Roberto Hernandez didn't seem to think so.

"Ask him. Ask him. I've played enough against him. That ball wasn't that close," Hernandez said. "But game on the line, bases loaded, free way to get a win."

As a completely biased observer to these events, I feel absolutely comfortable telling you that A.J. did not do enough to get out of the way, and I'm damn pleased he didn't.