CLEVELAND — Surprisingly entrenched in last place, the Chicago White Sox still get plenty of enjoyment out of beating the Cleveland Indians.

Jose Contreras allowed four singles while pitching into the seventh inning, and A.J. Pierzynski tied a career high with four hits as the White Sox snapped the first-place Indians’ eight-game winning streak, 8-0 Sunday.

It was one of the rare times this season that Chicago, which had lost 18 of 21, put good pitching and strong offense together.

“This year, I don’t believe we’ve done it,” said manager Ozzie Guillen, who blasted his team’s poor performance during a three-game sweep at Texas earlier in the week. “It’s fun to see that we don’t have to go out there and battle and lose.”

Contreras (8-16) won consecutive starts for the first time since last September as the White Sox broke a five-game losing streak, and also ended their longest road losing streak since 1962 at 11 in a row.

“It’s great for him and it’s great for us,” Guillen said of Contreras, who lost seven consecutive starts in June and July. “The last two times, he’s been the Jose we want him to be.”

Cleveland, which opened a 51⁄2-game lead over the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central during its win streak, fell to 13-4 since Aug. 15. The lead remained intact, however, as Detroit lost at Oakland, 8-7, in 10 innings on Sunday. Today in Minnesota, the Indians start a 10-game trip that continues to Los Angeles and Chicago.

Pierzynski broke an 0-for-17 slump by going 4-for-5 for the White Sox, who tied a season-high with 18 hits — 17 singles and a solo homer by Darin Erstad.

A questionable call by second-base umpire Laz Diaz helped Chicago take a 3-0 lead in the second inning against Jake Westbrook.

The White Sox loaded the bases on three singles. The third hit was a ground ball by Danny Richar that appeared to hit Andy Gonzalez running from first, but Diaz ruled that second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera dropped the ball. TV replays showed the ball getting tangled in Gonzalez’s jersey before Cabrera could get a glove on it.

“It looked like Asdrubal got there and the runner hit him,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “They (umpires) said he had the ball and was trying to make a tag.”

Cabrera agreed with the TV replays.

“He hit the ball first,” the rookie said of Gonzalez.

After Juan Uribe struck out, Jerry Owens’ bases-loaded walk made it 1-0. Westbrook struck out Scott Podsednik, but Jim Thome followed with a broken-bat single to left, driving home two more runs.

Chicago made it 4-0 in the fourth when Cabrera did drop a ball. With runners on second and third and two outs, Thome hit a slow grounder between first and second. Cabrera, playing in short right field as part of a defensive shift, charged in but misplayed the ball for an error, allowing Uribe to score from third.