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Mackowiak, Erstad lead White Sox past Athletics

May 22, 2007 - 5:28 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- After blowing a three-run lead, Rob Mackowiak and the Chicago White Sox responded in a major way.

Mackowiak had a key two-run single and Jose Contreras pitched 6 1/3 solid innings as the White Sox posted a 8-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Monday.

Darin Erstad had three hits and three RBI and A.J. Pierzynski also drove in two for Chicago, which had a season-high 14 hits and has won three of four vs. Oakland this season.

"We played good today, we executed well," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "The hits came in bunches. I still believe we have a good hitting ballclub."

"Over the last couple of days, we've been swinging the bats a lot better," Mackowiak said. "There's going to be a time in the season when (the offense) picks up the pitchers, they picked us up a lot this year. It was a matter of time before the hitting started coming around."

After the Athletics knotted the game at 3-3 in the fifth inning on a three-run double by Nick Swisher, the White Sox scored five runs in the sixth and seventh to regain the lead.

"You have to tip your cap to Contreras," Swisher said. "He was handling pretty much everybody. Then we started swinging the bats a little bit earlier in the count and started getting some runs."

In the bottom of the sixth, Paul Konerko and Pierzynski led off with back-to-back singles before moving to second and third on a sacrifice by Pablo Ozuna. Mackowiak singled to left field, plating both runners to give Chicago a 5-3 lead.

After a base hit by Alex Cintron advanced Mackowiak to third and drove Oakland starter Joe Blanton from the game, Erstad singled up the middle off reliever Jay Marshall to make it 6-3.

"The guys at the bottom of the order are setting the table and getting on base," Erstad said. "It's awesome to have the opportunities (to get the RBI)."

In the seventh, Pierzynski hit a sacrifice fly and Cintron added a run-scoring single later in the frame to increase the lead to 8-3.

That was enough for Contreras (4-4), who allowed three runs, and had season highs in walks (nine) and strikeouts (eight).

"I felt great in the bullpen tonight," Contreras said through an interpreter. "It's nice to pitch with a lead. It keeps you motivated to go out there and keep the lead when your teammates are doing everything possible to give you the win."

Besides a no-decision on April 21 vs. Detroit, Contreras has alternated wins and losses in all of his starts.

Relievers Mike Thornton and Mike MacDougal each worked two-thirds of an inning and Boone Logan faced one batter before Bobby Jenks came on in the ninth. The burly closer allowed a walk and a single before recording three straight outs for his 14th save of the season.

Blanton (4-2) surrendered six runs - four earned - and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. The righthander, who walked two and struck out four, is 1-1 vs. Chicago.

"I missed a lot of spots tonight," Blanton said. "I got away with it for a couple of innings but with a good hitting team, you're not going to keep getting away with it."

Chicago broke out to an early lead in the second inning. Jermaine Dye led off the frame with a double and went to third on a base hit by Paul Konerko. Dye scored and Konerko moved to second when Pierzynski hit a grounder to first that Dan Johnson failed to field, giving the White Sox a 1-0 lead.

After a walk and two strikeouts, Erstad singled to center field off Blanton, scoring Konerko and Pierzynski to make it 3-0.

Swisher, who also added a two-run single in the eighth inning, drove in a career-high five runs for Oakland, which falls back to .500 (22-22).

"I do like the way we battled back against their relievers," Athletics manager Bob Geren said. "It's an encouraging sign to see the team keep fighting when they're behind."

"I hate losing," Swisher said. "Tonight just wasn't our night. Hopefully tomorrow is."