A's rout White Sox as 46,028 attend for free

[April 18, 2018]  Jed Lowrie ignited a five-run first inning with a home run, and Trevor Cahill threw seven innings of shutout ball Tuesday night as the Oakland Athletics celebrated "Free Baseball" on their 50th anniversary with a 10-2 trouncing of the Chicago White Sox in Oakland, Calif.

One day after the clubs drew 7,479 for the opener of a three-game series, 46,028 attracted by free admission and free parking witnessed the A's put up a double-figure run total for the second time in a week.

The game was played exactly 50 years after the first-ever Major League Baseball game in Oakland, featuring the Baltimore Orioles and the A's, in 1968.

Cahill (1-0), making his first major league start of the season after beginning the year in the minors, benefitted from Oakland's 13-hit attack. He allowed five hits and two walks while striking out eight.

After Lowrie's fifth homer of the season, a two-out solo shot off White Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez (0-3), got the A's rolling in the bottom of the first, Oakland loaded the bases on a double by Khris Davis, a single by Matt Olson and a walk to Matt Chapman.

Mark Canha made it 3-0 with a single, and Stephen Piscotty completed the five-run uprising with a two-run double.

Canha had a second single and Piscotty a second double in a three-run fourth inning that increased the margin to 8-0. And they teamed again in the seventh -- Canha with a double and Piscotty with a sacrifice fly -- as Oakland went up 10-0.

Gonzalez was pulled three batters into the fourth inning, having allowed eight runs and eight hits in three-plus innings. He walked two and struck out one.

Cahill gave way to Ryan Dull in the eighth, and two batters later, the White Sox were on the board via a two-run home run by Yoan Moncada, his second of the season.

Canha finished with three hits and three runs, while Jonathan Lucroy had three hits and three RBI for the A's, who have won three in a row for the first time this season.

Piscotty collected two hits and three RBIs in Oakland's 13-hit attack. Lowrie was a fourth A's player with multiple hits with two.

Moncada also doubled on a two-hit night for the White Sox, who were playing for just the second time in five days. They had games postponed three consecutive days in Minnesota.

The White Sox finished with eight hits.

--Field Level Media

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