The Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas – Mark Buehrle pitched eight strong innings, Juan Uribe homered and drove in three runs, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers 8-2 on Thursday night.

Buehrle (7-4) won for the first time since May 24, allowing two runs and six hits. He struck out two and walked one.

The left-hander improved to 8-2 lifetime against Texas after losing his previous two starts against the Rangers. He retired 12 straight from the second through the sixth before Ian Kinsler’s one-out single.

The White Sox, who remain 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Detroit Tigers in the AL Central, won three times in the four-game series.

Chicago got strong starting pitching from Buehrle, Jose Contreras and Jon Garland in its victories against Texas.

The Rangers, who have lost four of six, fell out of first place in the AL West for the first time since May 19. Texas is a half-game behind the Oakland Athletics, 9-6 winners over Seattle earlier Thursday.

Jim Thome hit his 22nd homer, and Pablo Ozuna and Paul Konerko had three hits each for the White Sox, who have won seven of 10 overall.

Uribe’s solo homer in the third off rookie starter John Rheinecker (2-1) gave Chicago the lead.

The White Sox had seven hits in the fourth, making it 5-0 on Joe Crede’s RBI single, Uribe’s run-scoring double and Ozuna’s two-run bloop single just past the outstretched glove of first baseman Mark Teixeira.

Rheinecker, who had allowed five runs in three starts since he was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma on May 29, was knocked around by the White Sox for five runs and 11 hits in four-plus innings.

Konerko’s RBI single in the sixth off Joaquin Benoit made it 6-0.

In the sixth, Michael Young’s RBI groundout and Teixeira’s run-scoring double pulled Texas to 6-2. But Uribe’s suicide squeeze in the seventh and Thome’s 435-foot shot onto the grass embankment in center in the eighth gave Chicago an 8-2 cushion.