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Final Score: Chicago WSox 8 - Detroit 5

Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - A.J. Pierzynski drove in five runs, hitting the decisive three-run home run and propelling the Chicago White Sox to an 8-5 victory over the surprisingly slow-starting Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

Pierzynski finished the day 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored, and the Sox pounded out 13 hits on their way to a second consecutive victory. Jermaine Dye also went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI, while Carlos Quentin slammed a two-run homer.

"I'm off to a good start," Pierzynski said. "I'm at my best when I can place the ball from center to right. That's what's happening right now. We have more energy than we did last year. This is a good team and a lot of guys were embarrassed from what happened last year. We just want to win games."

Boone Logan (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless sixth, as four Chicago relievers held Detroit's bats in check following a rocky start from 36-year- old right-hander Jose Contreras. Contreras was charged with five runs - four earned - on 10 hits and four walks in five-plus innings, striking out two and walking away with a no-decision.

Detroit starter Nate Robertson didn't fare much better, getting tagged for five runs on seven hits and a pair of walks over his five frames. Zach Miner tossed a scoreless sixth, but Jason Grilli (0-1) surrendered the three-run homer to Pierzynski in the seventh to take the loss.

Clete Thomas and Ivan Rodriguez had three hits apiece for the Tigers, off to their first 0-4 start since the 2003 season, when they opened 0-9 and went on to an American League-record 119 losses. A popular preseason favorite in the AL because of a revamped lineup and key offseason additions, Detroit was swept in its home-opening series by Kansas City, scoring a total of just five runs.

"We just have some bad combinations going where you get in those streaks like this, that's what happens," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "No matter when these streaks are, you've got bad combinations going. We got pretty good starting pitching the first three games, didn't really do much with it. Today we swung the bats a little bit better, we kind of let it get away, couldn't add on runs. It's a combination of all those things, (and that) usually spells a little bit of a slump."

Grilli entered a tie game in the seventh and promptly surrendered a double to Paul Konerko and a single to Dye. Pierzynski then unloaded for a mammoth three-run blast deep into the right-field bleachers, making it an 8-5 ballgame.

A huge inning was averted when Grilli got a double-play ball - thanks in part to a baserunning blunder by Chicago's Joe Crede - and struck out Orlando Cabrera to end the seventh.

But Detroit's sticks, which scored in each of the first three innings and hung a three-spot on Contreras in the third, went silent against the Chicago bullpen over the final six frames, mounting only a mild rally in the ninth against White Sox closer Bobby Jenks. Dye made a terrific sliding catch for the game's final out after Jenks allowed two baserunners, securing the victory and the second save of the season for Jenks.

Konerko, Quentin and Crede each totaled two hits on the day for the Sox, with Konerko reaching base four times.

Rodriguez drove in two runs for Detroit, while Jacque Jones and Thomas each knocked in one.

Contreras loaded the bases in the first inning, but minimized the damage by inducing a Magglio Ordonez double-play ball - which brought home Thomas - and striking out Edgar Renteria to end the frame.

Chicago then took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second when Pierzynski doubled and came home on Quentin's one-out, two-run blast to left. But Detroit answered in the bottom half, as Rodriguez doubled and scored on a Thomas base hit to tie the game.

The Sox continued to knock around Robertson in the third, striking for three more runs. Robertson got the first two batters to begin the inning, but then plunked Jim Thome and walked Konerko. Dye doubled home Thome, and Pierzynski followed that with his second two-bagger of the afternoon, plating Konerko and Dye for a 5-2 Chicago lead.

Rodriguez's two-out, two-run double down the right-field line trimmed the margin to 5-4 in the bottom half, and Jones re-tied the game with a ground- ball single up the middle.

Both Robertson and Contreras made it through the fifth without further harm, and were lifted in the sixth in favor of Miner and Logan, respectively.