No stopping them: A.J.'s homer in 10th lifts Sox
It was quite a homecoming for A.J. Pierzynski on Wednesday night.
With the grounds crew literally seconds away from covering the infield as heavy rains drenched U.S. Cellular Field, Pierzynski powered the White Sox to their second straight dramatic win over the Cleveland Indians.
A night after Alexei Ramirez, Dewayne Wise and Orlando Cabrera teamed up to lift the Sox to a 10-inning victory over the reeling Indians, Pierzynski did it all himself.
Leading off the bottom of the 10th, Pierzynski smoked Masa Kobayashi's first pitch over the fence in left-center to vault the White Sox to a 6-5 victory and a three-game sweep over the Indians.
Pierzynski was hugged and mugged when he reached home plate.
"I don't know if it was that dramatic of a home run,'' Pierzynski said. "But it's always fun when you hit a home run in the ninth or 10th inning to win a game. It's a good feeling to see all your teammates there and see how excited everyone is, especially with the way the rain was about to start pouring.''
Sticking to one of baseball's many codes, Pierzynski said he wasn't trying to end the game with one swing.
"I was just looking for a pitch, basically a pitch that I can hit and drive,'' Pierzynski said. "Ozzie (Guillen) was yelling at me to not try and be a hero and hit a single. I hit it and I was like, 'It's got a chance.' But I didn't know it was going to make it.''
After Tuesday night's dramatic win, Guillen had a feeling something good was going to happen again.
"The momentum on this ballclub is great,'' Guillen said. "The way we won last night, we know we'll always get a shot in the last inning. And everybody that steps up to the plate has a chance to hit a home run on this ballclub.''
Ramirez came through with the big home run to tie the game Tuesday night, and Pierzynski followed up with a walk-off blast.
The White Sox play four more games at U.S. Cellular Field before hitting the road again. They're going to have a difficult time packing their bags.
In addition to winning seven in a row overall, the Sox have won nine straight at home and 18 of their last 20.
"We love this place,'' Pierzynski said. "We feel comfortable here. Our fans are great here. We just feel like this is where we belong. You have to take care of your home field, especially in your division, these division games are huge. We've done that so far. Hopefully we keep it up for a couple more months here.''
Pierzynski homered twice Wednesday as did the Indians' Grady Sizemore. Trailing 5-4 in the ninth inning, Sizemore hit his second solo HR off Scott Linebrink to send the game into extra innings.
Pierzynski's first home run was a solo shot in the first inning off Cleveland starter C.C. Sabathia.