Thome's RBI single gives White Sox 4-3 win

[May 16, 2008]  ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Jim Thome hit a go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning, A.J. Pierzynski's RBI double capped a three-run second against former batterymate Jon Garland, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 Thursday night.

Pierzynski led off the ninth with his third hit, a double against Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez (0-1). He tagged up and advanced to third on Carlos Quentin's flyout to the warning track in center and scored on Thome's hit. The White Sox slugger was 0-for-13 in the four-game series before getting his third hit in 21 at-bats on the road trip.

Octavio Dotel (2-2) pitched 1 1-3 hitless innings for the win and Bobby Jenks got three outs for his eighth save in 10 attempts. Jenks, a former Angels prospect claimed off waivers by Chicago after the 2004 season, has 95 career saves.

Garland allowed three runs and seven hits over six innings in his first regular-season game against the Sox since getting traded to the Angels in November for shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

Garland pitched with runners on base in every inning, walking four and striking out one. The nine-year veteran was an All-Star with Chicago in 2005, when he became the first White Sox pitcher in 70 years to win his first eight starts en route to the first of consecutive 18-win seasons.

Javier Vazquez took a 3-2 lead into the seventh before Maicer Izturis hit a two-out infield single and took third on Vladimir Guerrero's double off the fence in right-center. Matt Thornton relieved Vazquez and got Garret Anderson to hit a grounder to third baseman Joe Crede, whose fielding error allowed the tying run to score.

Casey Kotchman had a chance to give the Angels the lead, but grounded into a force play with the bases loaded after a walk to Torii Hunter.

Crede also committed a two-out throwing error Monday night, leading to four unearned runs in a 10-7 loss for the White Sox. The nine-year veteran, who underwent season-ending back surgery last June 12, has eight errors in 37 starts at third this season.

Vazquez allowed three runs -- two earned -- and nine hits over 6 2-3 innings with no walks and six strikeouts. The Angels got the jump on him in the first inning with Anderson's RBI single and Kotchman's run-scoring double, but the White Sox came right back with three in the third.

Paul Konerko singled and scored on Juan Uribe's fielder's choice grounder, Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly and Pierzynski followed with an RBI double to give Chicago the lead. Garland minimized the damage by getting Thome to ground out with the bases loaded against a three-man shift on the right side of the infield.

Uribe left the game in the sixth inning because of a slight strain in his right hamstring.

Notes: Pierzynski's next game will be his 1,000th in the majors during the regular season. ... The Angels held a 1970s "Retro Night," complete with psychedelic motif, throwback uniforms and caps from 1971, music from that era -- and doctored head shots on the scoreboard of each player in '70s-style hairdos. During that decade, the Halos were 90-79 against the White Sox. Both teams played in the AL West during those years, with the Angels winning a division title in 1979. ... How appropriate that the White Sox were in town for the 1970's nostalgia theme. On July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park, Sox owner Bill Veeck's son Mike allowed a Chicago radio station to hold a "Disco Demolition Night" promotional event between games of a twi-night doubleheader with Detroit. The whole thing backfired, and the resulting chaos from thousands of fans storming the field led to the Sox forfeiting the nightcap to the Tigers.

[Associated Press; By R.B. FALLSTROM]

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