Rowand Powers White Sox

Chicago White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen was impressed with the way his team bounced back after squandering a late lead in its previous game.

Aaron Rowand hit a three-run homer against Trevor Hoffman in the 10th inning Sunday to give the White Sox an 8-5 victory over the San Diego Padres.

“This is the biggest game of the year because of the way we lost [Saturday] and how we came back today,” Guillen said. “We could have come in and just saw what happened. But they showed what kind of character this team has.”

Chicago won five of six on its trip, and nine of 12 overall to improve to a major league-best 42-20. The White Sox have the best road record in the majors, 23-12.

The White Sox lost, 2-1, Saturday night when closer Dustin Hermanson had his first blown save of the season as San Diego scored two runs in the ninth inning.

Chicago was on the verge of losing only its fourth series out of 21 this season before rallying for two runs in the eighth to tie the score, 5-5.

“It’s all about winning right now,” said starter Freddy Garcia, who gave up five runs in six innings. “I was struggling all game, but the bullpen came up big, then Aaron got the big hit. Winning is all that matters.”

The White Sox started the winning rally against Hoffman (0-3) with one-out singles by Tadahito Iguchi and Scott Podsednik. Rowand, a Cal State Fullerton product, then hit an 0-and-2 fastball into the second deck in left field.

Said Hoffman: “An 0-2 pitch needs to be off the plate. That definitely caught more of the plate than needed.”

Relievers Cliff Politte (3-0), Neal Cotts and Luis Vizcaino held the Padres scoreless in the last four innings.

The Padres have lost six of eight and eight of 11.