Hafner homers, but Tribe falls to 1-4

CLEVELAND (AP) — Robin Ventura saw the Chicago White Sox score 10 runs and still didn’t feel safe.

Welcome to life as a major league manager.

A.J. Pierzynski hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs to lead the White Sox over the Cleveland Indians 10-6 on Wednesday.

Chicago scored four runs in the first off Justin Masterson (0-1), but Cleveland closed to 5-4 in the fifth against John Danks (1-1) on Travis Hafner’s two-run double.

Then in the sixth, Alejandro De Aza hit a two-run homer off Dan Wheeler and Pierzynski drove a pitch from Rafael Perez into the right-field seats for a 10-4 lead.

“I don’t know if you ever feel comfortable with any big lead,” said Ventura, five games into his first season as a manager at any level.

“I felt confident in our pitchers, bringing them in, but you can’t have too many runs.”

Pierzynski said the way the Indians kept coming back, he had the same feeling.

“It never seemed like we had enough,” Pierzynski said.

The left-handed hitter wasn’t in his comfort zone when he came to bat against Perez, having just two singles in his first 12 career at-bats against the lefty. Then his luck changed.

“He hung a slider,” Pierzynski said. “I’ve been facing him for years and he always makes good pitches, a good slider, good slider, good slider. Finally, he missed with one and I made contact.”

Following a 3-2 opening trip, the White Sox headed to Chicago after the game for their home opener against Detroit on Friday afternoon.

Hafner had a 433-foot solo home run over the rigth-field wall and three RBIs and Shelley Duncan hit a two-run homer for Cleveland, which went 1-4 on its opening homestand. The Indians were 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position, dropping to 5 for 32 (.156) this season.

“Five games is not going to make me panic about my bullpen, my offense, defense or anything like that,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “We have to give it a little more time.”

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