Cellular Field

CHICAGO -- Mark Buehrle continued his rebound season in historic fashion last night, pitching the 16th no-hitter in Chicago White Sox history and the major leagues' first of 2007 in a 6-0 shutout of the Texas Rangers. Buehrle delighted a cold but enthusiastic crowd of 25,390 at U.S. Cellular Field that watched him throw the first no-hitter at the ballpark. Only one Texas batter reached base - Sammy Sosa on a fifth-inning walk - and Buehrle promptly picked him off first base. Third baseman Joe Crede made a nice play on Gerald Laird's slow roller to end the game, setting off a delirious celebration near the pitcher's mound.

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for highs in the upper 60s and a chance for morning showers. Lows are expected to be around 50 degrees tonight. TRAFFIC Check our traffic map for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM LAST NIGHT... Actor Kevin Bacon judges charity competition at College Park : The movie star brought his star power to a charity event Wednesday at the University of Maryland. But the cheers the actor received were not as loud as the hoots and hollers directed toward the six student groups competing for $5,000 toward their favorite causes.

CHICAGO -- Saying the timing was right, Orioles interim manager Dave Trembley announced yesterday that Garrett Olson will start tonight and make his major league debut. Olson, a 23-year-old left-hander and one of the organization's top pitching prospects, will have his contract selected today from Triple-A Norfolk, where he is 7-6 with a 3.46 ERA in 17 starts. Olson will be starting in place of Steve Trachsel, who went on the disabled list Saturday with a strained gluteus muscle. Trachsel is expected to miss only one start, so it could be a short stint for Olson, but team officials are anxious to see how the pitcher responds.

The Orioles open their four-game home series against the Chicago White Sox tonight at Camden Yards. The White Sox have won six straight and 21 of their last 31. Their 54-34 record since May 17 is the second-best record in that span in all of baseball, just behind Cincinnati's 58-35 mark. Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen will start for the Orioles tonight. Chen (12-7), who has won four of his last five starts, won his first major league game against the White Sox on April 17, allowing two runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings in a 3-2 win at U.S. Cellular Field.

Chicago -- In yet another example that the "out" is often overrated in "strikeout," the Chicago White Sox found themselves right back in. They are right back in the American League Championship Series, tied at a game apiece, after getting a favorable ruling and a big hit in the bottom of the ninth last night. They beat the Los Angeles Angels, 2-1, in a taut Game 2 that was decided basically by a strikeout. A.J. Pierzynski ran to first and was allowed to stay there on a disputed two-out third strikeout call, and after his pinch runner Pablo Ozuna stole second, Joe Crede drilled a double to the left-field corner.

CHICAGO - The staph infection on the bottom of Sammy Sosa's left foot is steadily improving, and while an Orioles physician said the original prognosis hasn't changed, team officials are confident that the outfielder's return will come sooner than anticipated. Doctors from Johns Hopkins Hospital performed a minor procedure yesterday to clean out the wound, and the antibiotics seem to be having the desired effect. "They had to do very little today," said team physician Dr. William Goldiner, who still projects that Sosa will miss two to four weeks.

CHICAGO - This time it counts, or so they say. The 74th All-Star Game will be played for home-field advantage in the World Series, though there is little sentiment among the players in favor of the change. "It's a pretty bad slogan, and I think it's a horrible idea," said Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra. "When I was a little kid playing in the street, I thought it counted then. They all count." But this midsummer classic counts a little more. Baseball officials, embarrassed by last year's 11-inning tie in Milwaukee, decided the All-Star Game needed a little additional relevance to keep it from becoming irrelevant to television viewers.

CHICAGO - It was one and done for Replacement Roger, after all that. So what's so different about Bud's Fan-tastic All-Star Game? As soon as Roger Clemens was announced to pitch the third inning of the 74th midsummer classic last night at U.S. Cellular Field, fellow American Leaguer Jamie Moyer was warming in the bullpen, ready to take over in the fourth. Then it was another Mariner, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, whom the National League feasted upon in the fifth, raising the questions: So where was Roger for three innings, or Mike Mussina or Pedro Martinez for that matter, if this time it counts?

CHICAGO - The Orioles watched franchise shortstop Miguel Tejada limp off the field last night in the first inning, and by then, that wasn't their only serious concern. Sidney Ponson had already given up three runs in what would become another unsightly performance for the team's $22.5 million ace. The Chicago White Sox pounded Ponson for seven runs in six innings and piled on late, turning it into one of the worst losses in Orioles franchise history - a 15-0 drubbing at U.S. Cellular Field.