Twins. In 2002, he made the American League All-Star Team as a reserve catcher. In the 2002 American League Division Series, Pierzynski hit an important home run in the ninth inning of Game 5 against the Athletics, helping the Twins clinch the series. In 2003, Pierzynski batted a career-high .312 with 11 home runs and 74 RBI in 137 games. San Francisco Giants On November 14, 2003, the Twins traded Pierzynski to the San Francisco Giants for Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, and Boof Bonser. With the Giants, he hit .272 with 11 home runs and 77 RBI in 131 games. He spent one season in San Francisco before being non-tendered on December 15, 2004. Chicago White Sox Pierzynski was signed as a free agent to a one-year, $2.25 million contract by the Chicago White Sox on January 6, 2005. When he signed with the White Sox, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story claiming that the catcher had kneed Giants trainer Stan Conte in the groin during a spring training game in 2004. Although the incident allegedly happened during the game, it went unreported for nearly a year in the press. Pierzynski has disputed the allegations publicly. "Don't you think if something like that happened, in spring training, you would have heard about it? I would have gotten in some sort of trouble?" Pierzynski would hit 18 home runs, a new career high, with his most memorable home run of the regular season coming on June 18, 2005 against the Los Angeles Dodgers (with both teams wearing their 1959 throwback jerseys to commemorate their meeting in the 1959 World Series) in the bottom of the ninth to walk-off a 5–3 win. He would also set the single-season AL records for consecutive errorless games (117) and chances (777) by a catcher. The White Sox would go wire-to-wire in Pierzynski's first season with the team, winning the AL Central on September 29, 2005 over the Detroit Tigers. However, Pierzynski's biggest contributions would come during the White Sox' 2005 playoff run. In the 2005 playoffs, Pierzynski was a major player for the White Sox. In Game 1 of the ALDS against the defending champion Red Sox, Pierzynski would start the White Sox off strong with a three-run homer in the first inning off Matt Clement. He would add a second home run in the bottom of the eighth off Bronson Arroyo to help