A.J. Pierzynski missed a sign Tuesday night, but he more than made up for his miscue with a heads-up play Wednesday night in one of the most bizarre and dramatic victories in the White Sox’s short postseason history.
Pierzynski struck out on a low pitch for what appeared to be the final out of the ninth inning, but he alertly ran to first base as catcher Josh Paul rolled the ball back to the mound.
Pierzynski’s hustle kept the inning alive, much to the dismay of the Los Angeles Angels. And it paid off for the Sox when Joe Crede hit a double down the left-field line to score pinch-runner Pablo Ozuna for a 2-1 victory that evened this best-of-seven American League Championship Series at one game apiece.
“It was a weird play, but we were able to capitalize on their mistake,” Crede said after hitting a split-finger fastball off Kelvim Escobar. “That’s what it’s all about.”
Angels manager Mike Scioscia and several Angels protested that Paul, who entered the game in the bottom of the eighth, caught the ball. But Pierzynski thought otherwise after stepping across home plate.
“I thought the ball hit the ground and [Paul] didn’t tag me,” Pierzynski said while most of a sellout crowd of 41,013 cheered for several minutes. “We had that same play last year in San Francisco. A pitcher tried to bunt, the ball hit the ground and I didn’t tag him. He was almost to the dugout and then he ran to first.”
Pierzynski had stepped across the plate and was headed to the dugout before reversing his field. Plate umpire Doug Eddings initially waved his right hand and then pumped his fist to make the strike call before indicating Pierzynski was safe once he crossed first.
“It was a bad pitch,” said Pierzynski, adding that he didn’t hear Eddings call him out. “I shouldn’t have swung at it. I thought for sure it hit the ground.”
After the Angels’ failed protests, Ozuna replaced Pierzynski and stole second base, setting up Crede’s heroics.
But the biggest hero was starter Mark Buehrle, who limited a feisty Angels lineup to five hits in going the distance. More impressive was that Buehrle held nemeses Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson to a combined 0-for-8 with no balls hit to the outfield.
Buehrle finished his outing impressively in the ninth by inducing Guerrero and Bengie Molina to pop out to second and getting Anderson to hit a feeble pop that he caught in foul territory along the third-base line.
Buehrle’s only blemish through the first seven innings occurred when Robb Quinlan hit a homer that tied the game 1-1 in the fifth. Quinlan also hit a homer off Buehrle on Sept. 9 at U.S. Cellular in the Angels’ 6-5, 12-inning victory.
This was the best outing by a Sox starter against the Angels since Buehrle allowed only one run on four hits in nine innings of the Sox’s 2-1, 11-inning victory on May 24 at Anaheim.
Before the game, Scott Podsednik, Aaron Rowand, Geoff Blum and Willie Harris took bunting practice nearly four hours prior to the first pitch.
That wasn’t lost on most of the media after the Sox failed to advance runners on bunts in the latter innings of Tuesday’s 3-2 Game 1 loss. In addition, Pierzynski missed a sign and was thrown out on a steal attempt.
But early drills, including bunting, before batting practice are common for the Sox.
They put those drills to good use in the first against left-handed starter Jarrod Washburn, who was suffering from strep throat.
Podsednik hit a grounder back to the mound that Washburn leaped to field.
But instead of taking a few steps toward first, Washburn simply turned and heaved a high throw off the tip of Darin Erstad’s glove for a two-base error.
Tadahito Iguchi, the Sox’s most polished hitter, laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved Podsednik to third and garnered Iguchi a standing ovation from the appreciative fans.
The bunt paid off when Jermaine Dye grounded to short to score Podsednik with the first run.
But the Sox ran themselves out of a run in the second inning. Rowand, one of the bunting culprits in Tuesday’s loss, poked a drive down the right-field line for a double.
Rowand kept running as Guerrero bobbled the ball.
Guerrero’s throw skipped past cutoff man Orlando Cabrera as Rowand slid into third.
Quinlan alertly retrieved the ball about 160 feet down the line as Sox third base coach Joey Cora immediately told Rowand, who was on the ground, to head toward home.
But the throw arrived in enough time for catcher Jose Molina to tag Rowand’s hand before he reached home plate for the first out of the inning.
In the seventh, Crede was doubled off second on Juan Uribe’s line drive to left to end the inning.
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mgonzales@tribune.com
