Had the White Sox known how this game was going to unfurl, they could've called it quits after three pitches.
Lawrence Butler pulled Davis Martin's afternoon-opening fastball past Andrew Vaughn for a double, and then Jacob Wilson shot a plate-splitting sinker inside first base for his own two-bagger to give the Athletics the only run they needed.
As it played out, the A's ran the score up to 8-0 courtesy of nine extra-base hits, including four homers. The White Sox only had four hits total, all singles, and they should have suffered the added indignity of a game-ending immaculate inning. They can thank home plate umpire Edwin Jimenez, who missed an 0-2 Jason Alexander fastball that was entirely within the strike zone, probably because the catcher's mitt had to travel from high to low. Andrew Benintendi, who was pinch-hitting for Jake Amaya in his first action back from the injured list, ended up flying out on the next pitch to seal the their third shutout of the year.
"We’ve got to find a way to score runs," Will Venable said. "The intent is there. These guys are practicing the right way, game planning the right way. We're getting some guys on, we just have to cash in."
The White Sox were outscored 23-4 over the three games, and here's what the pitching lines for the series look like:
| Team | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAC | 27 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 19 |
| CWS | 27 | 34 | 23 | 23 | 7 | 7 | 15 |
Martin didn't pitch all that poorly, but the Athletics were able to show the 10,560 announced attendance what hitting talent looks like. Butler made it a 2-0 game in the fifth inning when he turned on a cutter that was in off the plate and kept it inside the right-field foul pole, and JJ Bleday did the same thing on a down-and-in slider an inning later for a two-run shot that doubled the margin.
"You just live with the fact that you executed the pitch the way you wanted to and move on," Martin said. "Cutter in to Butler, we executed it well, he got to it. The Bleday home run as well, he had some whiffs down and in on slider, executed it to a good spot. Kudos to him, he put a good swing on it."
Tyler Soderstrom hit his third homer of the series with his solo shot off Brandon Eisert in the seventh, and then Brent Rooker capped off the game with a resounding two-run blast off Bryse Wilson in the ninth.
The White Sox couldn't square up J.P. Sears with anything resembling the frequency, as the Athletics had 10 of the 11 hardest-hit balls of the game. Sears only recorded two strikeouts and one swinging strike on 100 pitches over six innings, but although the White Sox engaged him in a number of long at-bats, his misses over the strike zone usually resulted in pop-ups or flyouts.
Edgar Quero's debut didn't make a difference. He took a slider to the foot in his first plate appearance to put two on with one out for Brooks Baldwin, but Baldwin promptly grounded into a double play. Quero finished the day 0-for-3 with a strikeout and two lineouts, including one that pitcher Noah Murdock caught behind his back.
"It was a really good experience, happy to be here," Quero said. "I feel like I got the first hit a couple of times, but it’s baseball. I got good contact and I’m ready for the next game."
The White Sox were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, and Baldwin's plate appearance was the only one that occurred before two outs. Lenyn Sosa had the only successful day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a walk that loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth. Will Venable pinch-hit Joshua Palacios for Michael A. Taylor, Mark Kotsay corresponded with pulling Murdock for TJ McFarland, and McFarland won the battle with a popout.
"That's what you're evaluating," Venable said of anticipating Kotsay's countermove. "For us, that was a better matchup of the two, so that's what we went with."
Bullet points:
*Two of the extra-base hits were triples by ninth-hitter Daniel Schuemann, and both were gifts, as both Taylor and Palacios failed on their attempts to limit him to singles.
*Bryse Wilson committed an error with an errant pickoff attempt at second in the ninth inning, but Rooker's homer made the 90 feet moot.
*The White Sox now have the worst run differential in the American League at -22. They entered the series at -3, which was tied for seventh.
*Thanks to Jimenez, the last pitcher to throw an immaculate inning against the White Sox remains Jimmy Key, who struck out Robin Ventura, Magglio Ordóñez and Ray Durham on nine pitches while with Baltimore on April 14, 1998.
