After snapping a 21-game losing streak on Tuesday in a simple, straightforward fashion, it took precisely one day for the White Sox to revert to their old ways.
The White Sox spent most of the game in a position to win just their second road series of the year, but after six scoreless innings from Davis Martin, the bullpen and defense immediately blew the 2-0 lead before the close of the seventh, and the offense didn't have anything to offer beyond Andrew Benintendi's second-inning homer.
As a result, the White Sox have now lost 10 consecutive series. The last time they won two of three was against the Rockies at the end of June, and they still haven't taken a road series since St. Louis back at the start of May.
A barrage of soft contact doomed Touki Toussaint and Dominic Leone in the seventh, although the White Sox also contributed a couple of their own mistakes. Brent Rooker reached on a flared liner to center to start the inning, then moved to second on a one-out walk to Abraham Toro (.296 OBP this year). That pushed a runner into scoring position, and Armando Alvarez pushed him home with a looped single to left that chased Toussaint from the game.
Leone couldn't change the tone. Zack Gelof did the same thing to score Toro, which tied the game at 2, and then Gelof did that thing where the White Sox couldn't get him out. Darell Hernaiz hit a full-count sinker to short. Nicky Lopez ranged to his right and fired to second, but Gelof beat the ball there. A replay showed that Andrew Vaughn played so far off the bag that Gelof could take a massive secondary lead, and that 90 feet decided the game, because when Lawrence Butler hit a routine fly to left, it was the go-ahead sacrifice fly instead of the third out.
Oakland pitching retired the last nine White Sox -- and 15 of the final 16 to close it out, and the White Sox have now lost 22 of their last 23.
It looked promising early. Martin came out throwing darts, keeping Oakland out of the hit column through four, while the Sox stung Joey Estes for three extra-base hits in the bottom of the second. Andrew Vaughn doubled, and Lawrence Butler played it into a triple, but Andrew Benintendi's 11th homer of the season made the error moot, and gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead regardless.
Over the last seven innings, the White Sox were limited to four singles,. and they failed to draw a walk.
That's how the best start of Martin's MLB career turned into a no-decision. He allowed just two singles, a walk and an HBP over six innings and 82 pitches. Both singles came in the fifth inning, and he defused the rally with a double-play ball that kept Oakland scoreless.
He did the heaviest lifting with his cutter, but his entire arsenal worked well enough that he probably would've been an easy choice to start the seventh were it not his third start back from Tommy John surgery, and his first time completing six innings.
Bullet points:
*The top of the White Sox order went 0-for-12 with four strikeouts, including an 0-for-4 from Luis Robert Jr., who is 2-for-25 with nine strikeouts in August.
*The White Sox are back to having more blown saves (29) than wins (28). This was Leone's third.
