Sox on receiving end of gift

Let’s just get the daily Adam Dunn dreck out of the way.

Back in the White Sox’ lineup at Toronto on Thursday night despite riding a 4-for-36 slump while striking out 14 times, Dunn went 0-for-4 with, bingo, 4 strikeouts.

We’ll return to Dunn a little later.

The bigger news in the opener of a four-game series at Rogers Centre was a failure to execute a routine play late with the game on the line.

For a change, the Sox were not the guilty party and that’s why they came away with a needed 3-1 win.

Through the first eight innings against the Jays, the White Sox had a grand total of 1 runs and 5 hits while looking much like they did in Wednesday’s distressing 2-1 loss at Texas.

But they staged a rally in the ninth, and a blown defensive play by Toronto aided the cause.

“That’s why I always say defense wins games,” Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters afterward. “They forgot to cover first base and they paid for that.”

Here’s how the White Sox snapped the 1-1 tie in the ninth inning:

Leading off, Alex Rios hit a routine groundball that Toronto third baseman John McDonald threw into the seats for a two-base error.

A.J. Pierzynski struck out, but Rios moved up to third base on a wild pitch from Blue Jays reliever Marc Rzepczynski.

Omar Vizquel also went down on strikes for the second out, and after Gordon Beckham was hit by a pitch and stole second, Juan Pierre hit a grounder down the first-base line.

Jays first baseman Juan Rivera made the play, but Rzepczynski didn’t get over to cover and Rivera threw the ball away for an error that allowed Rios and Beckham to score.

For as up and down as the White Sox have been, they’ve managed to win 13 of their last 19, and Pierre’s RBI single in the fifth inning extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

In a huge situation in the ninth, Pierre appeared to strike out on a 3-2 pitch from Rzepczynski, but he stayed alive and came through with another big hit followed by the costly Rzepczynski misplay and Rivera error.

“For some reason, last year (Pierre) started very slow and turned around and had a good season,” Guillen said. “This year he’s doing the same thing. This guy works every day and tries to get better every day. He’s a very important part of the team. When Juan is swinging the bat good, it seems like the team has more life.”

Getting back to Dunn, he is now batting .186 and leads the major leagues with 65 strikeouts.

Guillen told reporters Dunn is going to be back in the lineup Friday, but he’ll be dropped to the No. 7 spot.

“Just to make sure he relaxes a little bit,” Guillen said. “I’m not punishing him, but the thing right now is he’s kind of frustrated and you can see him worry after his at-bats. He’s very down, but I have to continue playing him.”

sgregor@dailyherald.com