Flashback 2005: Buehrle's masterpiece leads the White Sox to a series sweep

Tadahito Iguchi's double gave the South Siders an early lead that did not relinquish

Today's flashback transports us to June 22, 2005, when the White Sox completed a sweep of the hapless Kansas City Royals with a 5-1 win at U.S. Cellular Field.

As expected, Mark Buehrle worked quickly, and took quick measure of the Royals all afternoon. Like many teams, the Royals struggled to make sharp contact against Buehrle. In eight innings of work, Buehrle allowed one run (unearned), five hits and one walk, and he struck out six. This brilliant performance lowered Buehrle's ERA to an dazzling 2.48.

With the excellence on the other side of the ball, the offense did not need to do much to secure the victory, and they took care of business. The scoring started in the bottom of the third. Oddly enough, the White Sox's two-run rally that inning started with two outs and nobody on base. Pablo Ozuna drew a walk, and Tadahito Iguchi drove Ozuna home with a double. The next batter, The Big Hurt, drove in Iguchi with an RBI double of his own to make the score 2-0.

In the fifth, the White Sox put up another two-out, bases-empty rally to give themselves a commanding lead. This time, Frank Thomas got it started by drawing a walk. Paul Konerko doubled to put runners on second and third, and Carl Everett launched a three-run homer to make it 5-0. The home run was Everett's 10th of the season. Everett certainly has provided some power for the 2005 White Sox, though quite a few of his teammates have a higher slugging percentage than his .462 (Jermaine Dye at.502, Konerko .508, and though he hasn't played many games, Thomas boasts a crazy .763 slugging percentage).

With the score 5-1 heading into the ninth, Ozzie Guillén called on Shingo Takatsu to close things down in the ninth, and he did just that. Takatsu set down all three Royals he faced, striking out two of them. As a result, the White Sox improved to 49-22, while the Royals fell to 25-46. On Friday (June 24, 2005), the Cubs will come to The Cell, with Freddy García and Sergio Mitre your probable starters.

A couple of trivia questions:
1. Besides the Royals and White Sox, which team did Bo Jackson play for?
2. What round in the 1998 draft was Mark Buehrle selected in?

Answers
1. California Angels
2. 38th