Or so goes the argument. Whether or not one believes that the physical and mental effort required to throw a no-hitter/perfect game causes poor performance immediately thereafter, Mark Buehrle has performed poorly in his six starts since his July 23 perfect game: 37.2 IP, 54 H, 7 BB, 12 K, and 26 RA. As is apparent from that line, control hasn't been a problem as his walk rate remains low. What else is apparent from that line, though, is that command has been a problem. His K rate is low and his hit rate is insanely high. He's been throwing strikes but they really haven't been good ones.
With the White Sox embarking on a treacherous 11 game road trip against the Red Sox, Yankees, Twins and Cubs they also need to ride their best pitchers. Unfortunately, it's hard to ride them when they aren't performing like the best. And with the offense scoring 1 to 4 runs, it's also hard to overcome less than stellar pitching performances.
With the loss, the club is three games back (pending the completion of the Tigers-A's game). The teams they'll be facing are good so the White Sox could very well find themselves out of the race by the end of the trip. The offense is going to need to produce. Jose and Freddy are going to need to turn back the clock to 2005. And Buehrle is going to need to turn the clock back to July.