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Pierre lifts White Sox over Blue Jays

May 27, 2011 - 6:09 AM Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Juan Pierre went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in, as the Chicago White Sox used a two-run ninth inning to beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-1, in the opener of a four-game series.

Jesse Crain (2-1) received the win in relief of Philip Humber by recording the final out of the eighth inning. Humber allowed one run on six hits and a walk in 7 2/3 innings to give Chicago its fourth win in six games.

Marc Rzepczynski (2-1) took the loss when he allowed two runs -- both unearned -- on two hits in an inning of work. Brandon Morrow started the game and allowed one run on four hits and two walks through seven innings.

Yunel Escobar homered for the Jays, who have lost three straight.

"I really just tried to power the ball down in the zone," Morrow said. "I felt like I was throwing straight downhill all game. I had some better movement on my fastball and just kept it down. When I was missing, I was missing down and that's a better spot for me."

Alex Rios led off the ninth with a ground ball to third baseman John McDonald, whose throwing error allowed Rios to reach second. Rzepczynski's wild pitch moved him to third with one out. Rzepczynski then struck out Omar Vizquel before hitting Gordon Beckham with a pitch to put runners on the corners.

Beckham stole second and both Rios and Beckham crossed the plate on an infield single by Pierre. Pierre hit a hard grounder to first that pulled Juan Rivera away from the bag. As Rzepczynski ran to cover first, Rivera's throw bounced away from the pitcher and the speedy Pierre reached first safely. The error allowed Beckham to score.

"When Juan is swinging the bat good it seems like we have more life on the bench," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

Sergio Santos pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his eighth save of the year.

A.J. Pierzynski singled with one out in the fifth for Chicago's first hit and was followed by a base hit by Vizquel. Pierre knocked in Pierzynski with a single, after a Beckham fly out, to give the White Sox a one-run lead.

Chicago then loaded the bases after Alexei Ramirez worked a walk, but Carlos Quentin followed with a ground out to second that ended the inning and kept the score 1-0.

Escobar knotted the game up when he led off the sixth inning with a shot into the left-center field bleachers.

Besides Escobar's home run, Toronto never had a player touch third base. They did have runners on second in the fourth, seventh and eighth innings but could not bring anyone home. Altogether they went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.

Game Notes

Jose Bautista has now reached base safely in 39 of his 42 games this year...Pierre extended his hit streak to 11 games...Rivera extended his hit streak to eight games...Chicago went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.