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 The White Sox, of course, had the A's right where they wanted them.
Designated hitter Adam LaRoche and right fielder Avisail Garcia
capped a five-run inning with back-to-back two-run doubles, and the
White Sox rallied yet again for a victory, beating the A's 7-6 at
the O.co Coliseum.
"It just says a lot about guys' fight and not laying down and
assuming that we're beat," LaRoche said. "Continue to go up there
and see pitches and work and have quality at-bats. You string a few
of those together and you'll score some runs. That's been huge for
us to be borderline dead five or six innings with nothing going and
then all of a sudden go out and score three or four runs. We've kind
of been doing that off and on all year. We'll take it."
The A's didn't quit, either, not even after right-hander Zach Duke
retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth.
Pinch hitter Stephen Vogt walked, and left fielder Coco Crisp
doubled to left center. But Vogt rounded third base too far and was
caught in a rundown, and catcher Geovany Soto tagged him out to end
the game.
A's third base coach Mike Gallego took the blame, saying he put up
the stop sign too late.
"It was a bad call," Gallego said. "We wanted him to score and you
get caught up in it, and you can't get caught up in it. As soon as I
saw the ball come out of (center fielder Adam) Eaton's hand, I knew
I was a little late in holding him. Vogt couldn't get back to the
base."
The White Sox relay went from Eaton to shortstop Alexei Ramirez to
first baseman Jose Abreu, who threw behind Vogt to third baseman
Gordon Beckham. Beckham fired the ball to Soto.
"It was a crazy ending for sure," Eaton said. "I played the ball off
the wall and as soon as I threw it in I knew they were going to give
it a chance. ... Third-base coach was waving him and then it was
kind of late, you know, stopping him. I think it was a credit to us
getting it off the wall quick and getting it in quick. For Jose to
be in the middle of the diamond like that to take the relay and cut
it off, it was good. Spring training at its finest right there."
The White Sox won their third straight game, all on the road, and
won in Oakland for just the second time in their past nine games at
the Coliseum. Oakland lost for the eighth time in their past nine
games.
"We've had quite a few of these where it seems like we're one inch,
one foot, one at-bat, one play away from winning some of these," A's
manager Bob Melvin said.
LaRoche drove in three runs for the White Sox and scored once.
Relievers Dan Jennings, Jake Petricka and Duke combined to blank the
A's over the final three innings after the White Sox took a one-run
lead in the seventh. With closer David Robertson getting the night
off, Duke got the save. Right-hander Scott Carroll (1-1) got the
win, allowing one run over two innings of relief.
Catcher Josh Phegley, a former White Sox, hit a solo home run for
the A's, and right fielder Josh Reddick went 2-for-4 with a double
and a three-run triple.
White Sox rookie left-hander Carlos Rodon, making his second career
start and first since joining the rotation, lasted just four
innings. He gave up five runs on five hits, walked six and struck
out one, doing an about face from his starting debut against
Cincinnati on May 9. Rodon held the Reds to two runs on four hits
over six innings, struck out eight and walked four, earning his
first major league win.
A's right-hander Jesse Hahn gave up four runs, only two of them were
earned, over 6 1/3 innings. He gave up five hits, struck out five
and walked two.
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Oakland owned a 6-2 lead through six innings, but the White Sox sent
nine batters to the plate and scored five unearned runs in the
seventh.
With one out, A's third baseman Brett Lawrie booted Soto's ground
ball. Second baseman Carlos Sanchez lined a single to left, moving
Soto to second and ending Hahn's night.
Right-hander Fernando Rodriguez got Eaton to hit what looked to be a
double-play ball to shortstop Marcus Semien, but his underhanded
toss to second baseman Eric Sogard was a touch slow, and a hustling
Eaton beat Sogard's throw to first.
Left fielder Melky Cabrera grounded a hit-and-run, RBI single to
left, cutting Oakland's lead to 6-3, and Rodriguez drilled Abreu in
the left shoulder with a 3-2 fastball, loading the bases.
A's left-hander Fernando Abad came on to face the left-handed
hitting LaRoche, and LaRoche lined his 2-0 fastball for a two-run
double to right center, making it 6-5.
"A couple of heaters there. Obviously tried to get ahead and kind of
got in a bind 2-0," LaRoche said. "Came with another and just kind
of left it over the middle of the plate. Put a swing on it."
Right-hander Evan Scribner took over, and Garcia drilled his first
pitch for a two-run double to left center as the White Sox moved
ahead.
"We've shown the game's never really over," Duke said. "We've come
back late in games. We stay on edge out there in the bullpen at all
times."
NOTES: White Sox 2B Carlos Sanchez was called up Friday from
Triple-A Columbus and started against Oakland. He took the roster
spot of 2B Micah Johnson, who was optioned to Columbus on Thursday.
... Oakland LHP Sean Nolin (sports hernia surgery) was reinstated
from the 15-day disabled list and assigned to Triple-A Nashville,
where he made three appearances since May 5 on a rehab assignment.
The A's acquired Nolin from Toronto in November as part of a package
for 3B Josh Donaldson. ... A's closer Sean Doolittle (strained left
shoulder) began a rehab assignment Thursday for Class A Stockton and
pitched one inning, striking out two but giving up two solo home
runs with two outs. He'll pitch another inning Sunday for Stockton.
... White Sox LHP John Danks will make his 12th career start against
the A's on Saturday night. He's 6-3 with a 2.38 ERA vs. Oakland. ...
A's C Stephen Vogt, who entered play Friday with an American
League-best 30 RBIs, was out of the starting lineup for the second
straight game, both against left-handed starting pitchers. A's
manager Bob Melvin, who said Tuesday that the left-handed hitting
Vogt was no longer in a platoon with Josh Phegley, declined to
explain why he was out of the lineup again.
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