A.J.'s clutch hit pushes Sox past A's in 13th
Kenny Williams had mixed feelings Wednesday.
The White Sox' general manager said he hasn't been to his new restaurant - Market - for a while.
"Haven't felt much like socializing," Williams said.
A few minutes later, he tried putting a positive spin on the Sox' plight.
"I'd like for them (the first-place Tigers) to lose four straight and for us to win four straight," Williams said. "It's not out of the question. It can happen. It happens during the course of the year all the time.
"But at this point, you've got to take it day to day. Beat Oakland. Maybe we could put them in Anaheim (Angels) uniforms. Boston or New York."
The White Sox have fared very well at home against the three American League heavyweights this season, going a combined 8-3.
Against the A's, on the other hand, the Sox went into Wednesday night's game against the last-place team in AL West with a 1-4 record at U.S. Cellular Field.
The Tigers lost to the last-place Kansas City Royals Wednesday, and the White Sox managed to cut their lead to 6½ games with a hard-fought 4-3 win over Oakland in 13 innings.
With one out in the 13th, Alexei Ramirez singled off A's reliever Edgar Gonzalez (0-2) and scored on A.J. Pierzynski's double off the center-field fence.
Octavio Dotel (3-3) pitched 3 scoreless innings to get the win.
The Sox held a 3-2 lead with two outs in the eighth inning before the Athletics scored a run off reliever Tony Pena on Scott Hairston's double and Kurt Suzuki's single.
Manager Ozzie Guillen was happy with the win, but not with Pena's performance.
"I don't get mad too often at the ballpark," Guillen said. "But today's game, it was like, 'There we go again.' When you win games, it's nice, it's cool. But it gets to the point where you get tired seeing the same thing every day. It's frustrating."
Freddy Garcia, looking to win a job in the White Sox' 2010 rotation, started and pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits.
The first four spots are set with Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy, Gavin Floyd and John Danks. Guillen hopes the 32-year-old Garcia returns and fills the final slot, but nothing is guaranteed.
"I'd like to have Freddy back," Guillen said. "That's not my call. I think he's proved himself. He gotten better and better. He showed us he's good enough to pitch when he doesn't have his best stuff.
"But that's Kenny and their decision and whatever they make, I'd love to have him around. I know Freddy will help the young staff to get better. If we don't have him, somebody else will get him."
The White Sox will try to get straightened out on the road beginning Friday, when they play three games on the West Coast against the Los Angeles Angels and three more against the Seattle Mariners.
"We've play good on the West Coast, surprised a lot of people," Guillen said. "Hopefully, we come out of there better. Well, I know it's going to be better. It can't be worse than the last trip."
Scot Gregor's game tracker
White Sox 4, A's 3 (13)
Busy night: In addition to hitting the game-winning double in the 13th inning, catcher A.J. Pierzynski also threw out three runners trying to steal. On the flip side, Oakland did swipe five bases.
Solid at the top: Stating his case again for a 2010 contract, Scott Podsednik (4-for-7) matched his career high for hits in a game while raising his batting average to .307.
Soft in the middle: Jermaine Dye (0-for-6) continued to struggle at the plate. The 35-year-old right fielder is batting .175 (29-for-166) since the all-star break.