In his first appearance in the major leagues since breaking a bone in his left ankle last July 6, Frank Thomas strained a hip flexor and left in the seventh inning as the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-4.

Thomas, who went 0-for-two with a walk, said his latest injury was not serious.

``I just felt a little twinge in the hip flexor,'' he said. ``It was just one of those things you don't want to get out of hand by hitting a line drive and having to leg it out. It's a day-by-day situation, and I'm feeling good. I didn't want to go out on the first day and be down for two weeks.''

Thomas, batting third as the designated hitter, had hit just .190 in 11 games during a minor league rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Charlotte.

He received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 38,685 in the first inning, his first plate appearance since surgery last October 6.

``That brought a tear to my eye,'' Thomas said. ``The fans showed me how much they care and that was big for me.''

Thomas popped out in the first, walked and scored in the third and lined out to left in the fifth.

Timo Perez replaced Thomas in the seventh and hit a two-run single in the ninth that won the game for Chicago.

Perez helped the White Sox snap a three-game losing streak with his hit down the left-field line off Scot Shields (4-2), who blew a save for the second time in nine chances this season.

``It was a good swing and I put it in left field,'' Perez said. ``It was a great comeback, a good game.''

With the Angels ahead 4-3, pinch-hitter Willie Harris walked to lead off the ninth and stole second, and Joe Crede also walked. Scott Podsednik sacrificed, and pinch-hitter Carl Everett struck out, bringing up Perez.

``I couldn't throw strikes early,'' Shields said. ``That's gotten me in trouble in the past, and lately I needed to cut down on the walks and start throwing a lot more strikes. Walking the leadoff hitter hurts.''

Chicago led 3-2 heading into the ninth behind Mark Buehrle, who was trying to win his seventh successive decision.

Buehrle left with one out after giving up singles to Bengie Molina and Jose Molina and was replaced by Damaso Marte. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi mishandled Dallas McPherson's grounder for an error that loaded the bases. Robb Quinlan hit a tying single and Chone Figgins walked, forcing home the go-ahead run.

Marte struck out Steve Finley, and Cliff Politte (1-0) got Orlando Cabrera to fly out.

``I was really disappointed about today's game, because Mark Buehrle deserved better,'' Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. ``He pitched the way he's always pitched and we had a great opportunity to score a lot of runs.''

Steve Finley had a homer and double in going three-for-five. Angels starter Jarrod Washburn pitched six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and four walks. Joel Peralta pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth.