er surge, Pierre credits an earlier sacrifice fly. He successfully lifted the ball to left in the eighth to bring home the tying run.Two innings later, he took it a step further by launching the ball.
"I ended up hitting it pretty good," Pierre said, grinning.
With the bases loaded in the 10th, Pierre, who's regarded for his speed more than his power, turned on a pitch from Clayton Mortensen (2-4) that hit off the top of the wall in right.
The ball was hit so hard and on such a line that the runners held up on the bases, limiting Pierre to a single.
And while he didn't think the ball was going to leave the park, Pierre figured, especially with his wheels, it was good enough for more than a single.
Not that he's complaining.
A.J. Pierzynski and Gordon Beckham scored on the play as the White Sox took two of three from the Rockies in the series. It was the ninth straight interleague series Chicago has won on the road.
Sergio Santos pitched a perfect 10th for his 17th save in 19 chances. Jesse Crain (4-2) picked up the win by getting the last two outs in the ninth.
The three-game series was tightly contested, with the Rockies winning 3-2 in 13 innings on Tuesday, the White Sox taking the second game 3-2 with a run in the ninth Wednesday and then Pierre coming up big for the White Sox on Thursday.
"He's one of the players we need the most," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said of Pierre. "He's starting to swing the bat better."
Trailing 4-2 heading into the eighth, the White Sox rallied for two runs off Rockies reliever Matt Lindstrom. Beckham had an RBI single and Pierre later drove in the tying run with the sacrifice fly.
Beckham finished with three hits, including a solo homer in the seventh.
Troy Tulowitzki hit a three-run homer in the first for Colorado and Todd Helton played in his 2,000th game.
But this loss dampened the milestone moment for the longtime Rockies first baseman.
"It's one of those games we should've won," Helton said. "Could've won a series right there
-- let one get away."
Chicago's Jake Peavy only made one major mistake all afternoon, leaving a pitch up to Tulowitzki in the opening inning after the two engaged in quite a showdown.
On the 12th pitch of the at-bat, Tulowitzki crushed an 89-mph fastball from Peavy over the fence in center for a three-run homer.
"Troy, you've got to give credit where credit is due. He fouled off some good pitches," Peavy said. "He waited around and got a pitch he could do some damage with."
Peavy scattered seven hits over six innings and allowed four runs in the no-decision. The righty is 13-8 with a 3.01 ERA lifetime in interleague games.
This was Peavy's third appearance since coming off the disabled list last week with a strained groin. Peavy pitched in relief in his last outing, throwing four scoreless innings to pick up the win against Washington last Saturday. It was the first relief stint of his career.
