Long night at the Cell

Had the White Sox been facing an American League opponent Friday, they likely would have gone quietly into the night.

Trailing the Nationals 3-0 with two on and one out in the ninth inning at U.S. Cellular Field, the Sox were well on the way to their eighth shutout loss of the season.

But this was an interleague game, and maybe that’s why Mark Teahen came to the plate with one out and promptly launched his first career pinch-hit home run to send the game into extra innings.

After all, the Sox came in with 17 straight series wins against National League teams, and they were 17-4 in their last 21 games vs. the Senior Circuit.

“I heard that a couple days ago, and it was really hard to believe that a team can play that consistent against one league,” said designated hitter Adam Dunn, who spent the first 10 years of his career in the NL, the past two with Washington. “That is pretty impressive. I’ve been on one of those teams that they’ve taken down.”

It looked like the White Sox were going to continue their impressive interleague run after they rallied to tie the game again in the 10th and 12th, but their luck finally ran out in the 14th inning when an error by shortstop Alexei Ramirez led to 4 unearned runs and the Nats exited with a 9-5 win.

“It was a good game,” said catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who kept the Sox alive in the bottom of the 12th inning with a two-out home run on an 0-2 count to tie the game at 5-5. “We fought our (butts) off, but we just couldn’t get the lead.”

No they couldn’t, and Washington went ahead for good in the 15th, rallying for the 4 gift runs after reliever Matt Thornton quickly got two outs.

Manager Ozzie Guillen was exhausted and unhappy afterward, but he kept his cool.

“To me, it’s very hard to describe the game,” Guillen said. “I don’t know whether to say we played very good or not that good. We fought very hard and we never gave up.”

The White Sox could have lost the game in 10 innings after Sergio Santos served up a solo home run to Laynce Nix, but Dunn finally played a positive role, ripping a one-out double that put runners on second and third with one out.

An intentional walk to Alex Rios loaded the bases, and that’s when the Sox reverted to the uneven form they’ve displayed against AL teams all season.

Yes, Omar Vizquel did score on Todd Coffey’s wild pitch to tie the game at 4-4, but after Pierzynski also was intentionally walked to reload the bases, Brent Lillibridge struck out swinging and Teahen popped out to kill what should have been the game-ending rally.

“We had a couple of good opportunities to get some runs and we didn’t do it,” Guillen said.

But that’s usually what he says after a disappointing loss to an American League opponent.

sgregor@dailyherald.com