Pierre continues his offensive surge

MINNEAPOLIS - With Juan Pierre, it always seems to be about the negatives.

He can barely hit the ball out of the infield. He doesn't walk or get on base enough. He gets caught stealing too much. He can't throw.

It's all out there, and maybe that's why Pierre can be a bit defensive when asked for an interview.

The White Sox' leadoff hitter was quite talkative Thursday, and he was asked about his improving offensive play.

"All you can do is play hard and leave it out on the field," Pierre said. "That's all I try to do every day. All that other stuff comes with it."

Pierre has been hot stuff with the bat, and that continued in Thursday's blowout win at Target Field. The 33-year-old left fielder was 3-for-5 while being hit by a pitch, and Pierre was 8-for-15 with 3 stolen bases in the series.

Pierre is now riding an eight-game hitting streak and he's also hit safely in 24 of his last 25. The surge has raised Pierre's batting average to .277 and his on-base percentage is up to .349.

"This guy, I don't know how he does it," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "From the first day of spring training, he never changes. He plays the best when we need him. Juanie was the same guy when he struggled that he is when he is hitting. We need a guy like that to make us go. That's the reason we got him."

While he's easily been playing his best baseball of the season the past month, Pierre is never satisfied with his play.

"I just never am," he said. "My average could be a lot better. On-base could be better. Stealing percentage could be better. Defense, everything. That's why I'm out here every day early doing my work. Until I bat 1.000 or have a 1.000 fielding percentage and 1.000 stolen-base percentage, that's when I'll be satisfied. That's my motivation to keep going and try to be the best, and never lose sight of the winning."

Pierre also stole his 48th base Thursday, the most in the major leagues.

"Yeah, I guess it's good," he said. "My main goal is to score runs. I've been running good. That's always a question, especially running when you start getting up in years. I feel good and try to keep my legs strong. I've been doing decent. I've still been caught more (14 times) than I would have liked, but like I said before, I'm never satisfied."