Sox relieve wild Rodon, rally past A's in big 7th
OAKLAND -- A five-run seventh inning propelled the White Sox to a 7-6 victory over the A's in Friday night's series opener at the Coliseum, a wild affair that ended with the potential tying run, Stephen Vogt, caught in a rundown between third and home.
Vogt was waved home by third-base coach Mike Gallego on Coco Crisp's two-out double off the left-field wall that center fielder Adam Eaton quickly snatched and threw to shortstop Alexei Ramirez for the start of a perfect relay throw.
"It was a bad call on my part," said Gallego. "Too late. It's tough to lose a game in that manner, the way these guys keep coming back."
Video: Must C Conclusion: White Sox perfect relay key to win
The A's watched their bullpen and defense unravel again in the seventh. With runners at first and second, following a one-out fielding error by third baseman Brett Lawrie, Eaton barely beat out the backend of a potential double-play ball, and Lawrie let Melky Cabrera's ensuing RBI ground ball get through the left side. Fernando Rodriguez hit Jose Abreu to load the bases, and back-to-back, two-run doubles from Adam LaRoche (off Fernando Abad) and Avisail Garcia (against Evan Scribner) put the White Sox ahead for good.
A's outfielder Josh Reddick notched two hits in the game, including a bases-clearing triple in a four-run fourth inning against White Sox starter Carlos Rodon that also included Josh Phegley's first home run as an Athletic. Rodon was on the hook for five runs, five hits and six walks in four-plus innings, while right-hander Jesse Hahn allowed two earned runs (four total) in 6 1/3 innings for the A's, who now own the worst record (13-24) in the Majors.
Video: CWS@OAK: Reddick clears bases with triple to right
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Five pitches, four runs: The White Sox used an aggressive approach against Oakland's struggling bullpen to pull ahead in the seventh. LaRoche belted the third pitch of his at-bat against Abad to the right-field gap, scoring Eaton and Cabrera to bring the White Sox within one. Two pitches later, Garcia drilled an offering from Scribner to the left-field gap to plate Abreu and LaRoche and put Chicago in front, 7-6.
"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," LaRoche said. "We've kind of been doing that off and on all year. We'll take it."
Video: CWS@OAK: LaRoche crushes two-run double to the wall
A's defense, bullpen implode (again): Lawrie's miscue, the team's 37th of the season in as many games, undoubtedly haunted them, but it was the bullpen's continued inability to record key outs that hurt most. The A's bullpen has allowed two runs or more in 19 of 37 games this season. More >
"I gotta somehow find the right answer in that inning," said A's manager Bob Melvin. "Obviously we've struggled with it. We had three guys in the inning we felt like could do the job, just couldn't get it done."
Video: CWS@OAK: Melky sneaks RBI single through left side
Quick start: The White Sox had Hahn on the ropes early but only came away with two runs. Eaton led off with a ground-rule double and eventually scored the game's first run when Hahn walked LaRoche with the bases loaded. Chicago extended its lead to 2-0 with Conor Gillaspie's one-out RBI single but couldn't keep the rally going after that.
Video: CWS@OAK: Gillaspie laces RBI single to center field
Hahn turns a corner: Hahn, who entered the day with a 7.63 ERA in his last three starts, found trouble almost immediately Friday, loading the bases on his first 10 pitches of the game and allowing two runs in a 28-pitch first inning, before settling down to retire 17 of his final 21 batters.
Video: CWS@OAK: Hahn fans five White Sox over 6 1/3 frames
QUOTABLE
"Spring Training at its finest right there. We can't say that all that often, but we worked on that. It's nice that it actually shows up in the game." -- Eaton on the White Sox game-ending relay
REPLAY REVIEW
White Sox manager Robin Ventura unsuccessfully challenged a call at home plate in the sixth inning. Reddick scored to make it 6-2 for the A's on a Billy Butler RBI single, sliding in just before he was tagged on the back. White Sox catcher Geovany Soto immediately motioned to his team's dugout in protest once Reddick was ruled safe, but replay officials in New York upheld the call by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez.
Video: CWS@OAK: Butler drives in run, stands after review
WHAT'S NEXT
White Sox: Veteran southpaw John Danks gets the starting nod for Saturday's 8:05 p.m. CT matchup. Danks has made 11 career starts against the A's -- the most of any pitcher on the White Sox staff -- with a 6-3 record and 2.38 mark in those outings.
Athletics: The A's will have Jesse Chavez on the mound for Saturday's middle matchup against the White Sox, with first pitch at the Coliseum scheduled for 6:05 p.m. PT. The right-handed Chavez is 1-3 with a 3.24 ERA in four starting assignments this year.
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