July 23, 2009: Mark Buehrle Pitches a Perfect Game -- and It's Nearly His 2nd

April 18, 2007: Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox pitches a no-hitter. He walks Sammy Sosa in the 5th inning, but that's the only baserunner he allows. Jim Thome hits 2 home runs, Jermaine Dye hits 1, and the South Siders beat the Texas Rangers 6-0 at what's now named Rate Field in Chicago.

July 23, 2009: Buehrle pitches a 2nd no-hitter, and this one is a perfect game, against the Tampa Bay Rays, also at home. Josh Fields hit a grand slam home run. Scott Kazmir, a pretty good pitcher, was the losing pitcher.

Buehrle was one walk away from having pitched 2 perfect games in the major leagues. This remains the closest any pitcher has come to that achievement.

The 30-year-old native of the St. Louis suburbs had helped the ChiSox win the 2005 World Series, their 1st title in 88 years. He made 5 All-Star Games. He finished his career at 214-160, 161-119 of that with the White Sox, and with 3 trips to the postseason. The White Sox retired his Number 56.

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July 23, 2009 was a Thursday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-3 at the new Yankee Stadium. CC Sabathia was the winning pitcher. Mark Teixeira hit a home run, Derek Jeter went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres, 9-4 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Carlos Ruiz hit a home run, and Jayson Werth and Pedro Feliz each got 3 hits.

* The St. Louis Cardinals were leading the Washington Nationals, 4-1 in the top of the 7th, when the game was called due to rain at Nationals Park in Washington, making the Cardinals the winner.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-1 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-4 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* And the Los Angeles Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-5 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mike Napoli doubled Chone Figgins home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.