A's
beat White Sox, end 4-game skid behind Davis' HR
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[June 24, 2017]
CHICAGO -- Oakland Athletics
pitcher Jharel Cotton told his teammates in the bullpen that he
wanted to give them a break and go nine innings. He didn't live up
to his end of the bargain, but the A's will certainly live with his
performance.
Cotton (5-7) threw five shutout innings, scattering three hits in
Oakland's 3-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night before
leaving the game at the start of the sixth inning because of a
blister on his right (throwing) thumb.
"I was cruising until the fifth and the sixth and then this
happened," Cotton said, pointing to the blister. "It was kind of a
bummer that I couldn't at least finish the sixth inning."
Cotton has been dealing with a blister for some time, and A's
manager Bob Melvin said "it doesn't seem to be a big issue" and he's
hopeful the right-hander makes his next start.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the A's (33-42) as
Khris Davis listened to Melvin's pregame message of jumping out to
an early lead. On the first pitch he saw from Mike Pelfrey in the
top of the first, Davis launched his 19th home run of the season, a
429-foot, two-run blast to center field.
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"(Melvin) told me he wanted to give me a kiss for some reason
because we jumped out to an early lead," Davis said with a laugh. "I
think I agree with that, that it was important to jump out and score
first. Just keeping an aggressive mindset early on."
Davis went 2-for-3 and also had a walk and stolen base. The early
lead gave Cotton some confidence as he notched his first win in a
night game this season.
"Yeah, I told KD he took coaching very well today," Melvin said.
"Any time he makes the manager look good he gets to play again
tomorrow. We needed to get on the board first, the way things had
been going on the road for us. And Jharel kind of took that and ran
with it, and obviously when he had to come out we had some rested
guys in the bullpen today and they did a good job after it."
Matt Joyce also hit a home run for the A's, blasting a solo shot to
right-center field in the fourth inning against Pelfrey (3-6), who
dropped to 0-5 in his career against Oakland. He threw 106 pitches
in only 4 2/3 innings.
"For six or seven lefties, I did a terrible job of commanding the
inside of the plate with the fastball," said Pelfrey, who was 3-1 in
his previous six starts coming in. "(I was) probably fortunate to
get out of it with three runs like I did."
Melvin said that Oakland's bullpen was "terrific" in throwing four
shutout innings. Closer Santiago Casilla made it interesting in the
ninth, though, allowing the tying run to come to the plate, but Matt
Davidson flied out to deep center field to end the game.
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![](../images/062417pics/sports67.jpg)
Oakland Athletics left fielder Jaycob Brugman (38) celebrates with
second baseman Jed Lowrie (8) after defeating the Chicago White Sox
at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY
Sports
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"They did a great job from Liam (Hendriks) coming in
and finishing my inning for me to (Sean) Doolittle coming in and
throwing up zeros and especially (Ryan) Madson, a guy I talk to a
lot, and of course Casilla, just closing the game out for us and
giving us the first 'W' of the road series, which is pretty good,"
Cotton said.
Davidson had two hits for the White Sox (32-40), who have lost four
of five.
White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson and manager Rick Renteria were
ejected by home plate umpire Jim Wolf in the bottom of the fifth
inning. Anderson was tagged out by A's catcher Bruce Maxwell on a
tapper that he thought was foul. Renteria came out to argue
Anderson's ejection and he was tossed for the third time this season
and second time in a week.
"It happened kind of quick," Renteria said. "I started walking out
and I was too late obviously. But I mean things like that happen. In
the heat of the battle, your emotions are flying high so it
happens."
NOTES: Oakland SS Chad Pinder left the game after the fifth inning
with a strained left hamstring. Manager Bob Melvin said it "could be
a little bit. ... Usually those things aren't one day.". ... White
Sox starter Mike Pelfrey had not given up a home run since May 26 --
he had gone five appearances and 21 innings without allowing a long
ball. ... Khris Davis' home run for Oakland was only his third in
June after hitting 10 in April and six in May, but he is hitting
.294 in the month compared with a .186 average in May. ... White Sox
SS Tim Anderson's first career ejection came on his 24th birthday.
... The White Sox will retire Mark Buehrle's No. 56 before Saturday
afternoon's game. [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
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