White Sox triumph after costly Orioles error

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Chicago White Sox took advantage of a costly Baltimore error to score four runs in the fifth inning and beat the Orioles 4-3 on Saturday.

The victory, backed by Mark Buehrle's strong pitching, moved the White Sox (47-43) within 1 games of the American League Central Division-leading Detroit Tigers (48-41).

"It just seems like everything is clicking for us," Buehrle (10-3) told reporters after allowing only one run and striking out four in seven-plus innings.

"We're getting some timely hitting. Hopefully, everything keeps going like this and we can get to first."

An error by Orioles first baseman Ty Wigginton also helped.

Following Alexei Ramirez's grounder, Wigginton allowed a throw from shortstop Cesar Izturis to skip off his glove and into foul territory, putting Ramirez on first.

"It's a play that needs to be made," Wigginton said. "In my opinion, it's one more error than a first baseman should make all year."

Three pitches later, Jermaine Dye homered to give the White Sox a 2-1 advantage.

Chicago boosted the lead to 4-1 with five more hits, all consecutive, as A.J. Pierzynski and Gordon Beckham singled home runs.

The White Sox lost two other potential runs when, on consecutive plays, they had runners thrown out at home plate.

Paul Konerko was out when he tried to score off Chris Getz's single and on the next play, Getz was tagged out at home when he attempted to score from second on Beckham's single.

"I've never seen a guy get thrown out at the plate twice in less than 30 seconds," said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. "That's a world record."

Baltimore closed within 4-3 on run-scoring singles by Nolan Reimold and Brian Roberts in the ninth before Nick Markakis hit into a fielder's choice to end the game.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina, editing by Nick Mulvenney)