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Pierzynski's walk-off RBI single caps White Sox's comeback

Sep 8, 2007 - 6:04 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Twins thought they had a win after rallying for six runs in the ninth inning to break a tie. They were wrong.

A.J. Pierzynski delivered a walk-off RBI single in the 13th inning as the Chicago White Sox pulled off an 11-10 comeback victory over the Twins in the opener of a three-game series Friday.

Pierzynski smacked an 0-1 offering from Minnesota reliever Juan Rincon (3-3) just past the reach of shortstop Jason Bartlett's diving effort and into left field, plating Luis Terrero from third base.

"That's baseball, weird baseball 2007," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "The problem was not very good pitching. The only good thing about this game is that we won. We showed, a little bit, that we don't give up. A lot of fans are going to wake up in the morning and say, 'Wow, they won the game? How'd that happen?' Baseball is about surprise. It was a crazy game."

After Rincon pitched a perfect 12th inning, he opened the 13th with a walk to Terrero. Jim Thome was issued an intentional pass after rookie Josh Fields laid down a sacrifice bunt. Scott Podsednik hit a grounder to second but Nick Punto's throw pulled Bartlett off the bag at second base and all the runners were safe.

Despite an argument from Twins manager Rod Gardenhire, the call stood and the bases were loaded with just one out, setting the stage for Pierzynski to provide the game-winning hit.

"It's definitely a strange game, but it's still disappointing the way it ended," Twins closer Joe Nathan said. "To have a bad call decide this game, it's a shame that that's the way this game had to end. But it's baseball."

Heath Phillips (1-1) registered his first career win after pitching a scoreless 13th frame.

The Twins took a six-run lead in the top of the ninth on a throwing error by third baseman Alex Cintron, RBI singles by Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer and a three-run blast by Rondell White.

Chicago returned the favor with six of its own in the bottom of the frame.

"We played a good ball game up until the ninth then we couldn't get them out," Gardenhire said. "It was pretty disappointing. We battled all the way to the end there."

With the bases loaded and two outs, Fields hit a two-run double off Twins reliever Julio DePaula to the wall in center to cut Chicago's deficit to 10-6. Thome followed with a three-run blast over the center field wall to reduce the Minnesota lead to one.

"(The home run) was big," Thome said. "We battled back, what a great game."

After Paul Konerko walked against closer Joe Nathan, pinch runner Scott Podsednik stole second before moving to third on a wild pitch. Darin Erstad tied the game by hitting a ground-rule double over the wall in center to send the contest to extra innings.

"It was a disappointing, long night for us," Gardenhire said. "I don't think we've had six runs scored against our bullpen, at least in the ninth inning, in a long, long time."

The White Sox had rallied earlier to tie the game in the seventh. Cintron, pinch hitting for Andy Gonzalez, took the second pitch from reliever Matt Guerrier deep over the left field wall to make it 4-4.

White Sox starter Javier Vazquez allowed four runs, 11 hits and a walk with eight strikeouts over six-plus innings.

Vazquez allowed the first four batters of the game to reach base, including Torii Hunter and Morneau, who both logged an RBI.

Chicago answered in the bottom half of the frame when leadoff hitter Jerry Owens doubled to center field. Two batters later, Thome singled to score Owens to cut Chicago's deficit to 2-1.

Chicago took a 3-2 lead in the second inning with a two-run blast from Juan Uribe. It was Uribe's 100th career home run.

However, the Twins regained the advantage against Vazquez two frames later. Morneau led off the fourth inning with a single followed by a walk to Cuddyer. Garrett Jones hit an RBI base hit to score Morneau, and two batters later Chris Heintz added a run-scoring single to put Minnesota up, 4-3.

Twins starter Carlos Silva gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings, striking out two.