Sox go late, win wild one
It has been a season the last-place White Sox would like to forget.
But on the way to another unsightly loss Friday night, the Sox actually put a positive memory in the scrapbook.
With the game tied at 4-4 after eight innings, the Twins erupted for 6 runs against the Sox' bullpen in the ninth.
That sent a large chunk of the "announced'' crowd of 34,104 to the parking lot. But the White Sox made history in the bottom of the ninth when they rallied for 6 runs of their own to re-tie the game and force extra innings.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time in franchise history the White Sox rallied to tie or win when trailing by 6 runs in the ninth inning.
The White Sox eventually won 11-10 on A.J. Pierzynski's run-scoring single in the 13th.
"That's baseball, weird baseball,'' Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said after the four-hour, 29-minute marathon. "But it was a good win.''
After the bullpen gave up 6 runs (5 earned) in the top of the ninth, the White Sox answered right back.
Josh Fields' bases-loaded double scored a pair of runs, and Jim Thome's 3-run homer off Julio DePaula made it 10-9. Darin Erstad's RBI double tied it up.
"It was big,'' Thome said. "Everyone's happy. They battled, and we battled back. It worked our way. What a great game. That was pretty special.''
Before the game, the Sox announced that Thome is their nominee for Major League Baseball's annual Roberto Clemente Award, presented to the player who combines skill, sportsmanship and community involvement.
Thome is one of baseball's class acts, and he won the prestigious award in 2002 when he played for the Cleveland Indians.
"It's a big deal,'' Thome said. "To be nominated is always great. And to win is great as well.''
As for the Sox as a baseball team, well, they've been not so great this season. And aside from Friday's comeback, the White Sox are on the brink of being "officially'' eliminated from the playoffs.
With 21 games left, there's not much worth watching on the South Side.
But there is one milestone within reach -- Thome is 4 home runs short of 500 for his career.
Thome again sounded like he'd be willing to trade his chase for 500 homers for a World Series ring. He had two shots with Cleveland, but the Indians came up short in the 1995 Fall Classic against Atlanta and lost again in 1997 to Florida.
"You want to win,'' Thome said. "The bottom line is you want to win. I'm trying not to focus in on (500 home runs) because ultimately you come to the ballpark and you focus on winning. It's been nice to do it, to get closer, to have people talk about it a little more. You can hit a home run and it's nice to move forward, but if you don't win the ballgame it's just not that much fun.''
It has been a dismal season for the Sox. Leave it to Thome to find a slight silver lining.
"We've given some of our kids an opportunity to play here and they've done a good job,'' said the 37-year-old DH. "Hopefully that'll carry on into next year and then we can focus in on what we ultimately came to spring training to accomplish, winning a championship.''
White Sox 11, Twins 10 (13)
At the plate: Trailing by 6 runs in the ninth inning, the Sox came back to tie the game and won in the 13th. Jim Thome hit a 3-run homer in the ninth, the 496th of his career. Juan Uribe hit his 100th career homer in the second inning.
On the mound: Starter Javier Vazquez pitched 6 innings and allowed 4 runs on 11 hits. Heath Phillips pitched a scoreless 13th to get his first major-league win.
-- Scot Gregor