Chicago ? The Chicago White Sox, called “underachievers” by general manager Ken Williams before the game, went from the down of blowing a three-run lead in the eighth inning to the up of squeaking out a victory against the AL Central’s worst team.

Scott Podsednik had a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning, and A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run homer in the seventh to help the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-7, on Monday night.

With the score tied at 7, Alex Rios drew a leadoff walk from Royals reliever Roman Colon (1-3) in the eighth. After a sacrifice and another out, Podsednik singled to center off Kansas City left-hander John Bale to give Chicago the lead.

The White Sox rebounded after reliever Scott Linebrink gave up a game-tying three-run homer to pinch-hitter Mike Jacobs.

“After that inning when Linebrink gave up the home run, I didn’t see anybody (in the dugout) with long faces. Only one guy, Linebrink, was disappointed about the inning,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “As soon as we got to the dugout, everyone was cheering. That was a good sign about the ballclub.”

Jayson Nix hit a two-run homer for the White Sox, who are two games behind first-place Detroit in the Central.

White Sox starter Mark Buehrle again failed to win for the first time since pitching a perfect game against Tampa Bay on July 23. He has a five-game winless streak.

Buehrle allowed four runs and nine hits in six innings.

“Buehrle was in trouble in almost every inning. He ran into trouble almost all game, but in the meanwhile he got some big double plays. That’s him, when he’s in trouble he puts the ball in play, and the double play is his best friend,” Guillen said.