White Sox 5, A’s 4: Bunting for the win
The South Siders rallied for a walk-off victory in unusual fashion
The White Sox (8-6) started out slowly, but they eventually rallied for a thrilling victory over the A’s (7-10) at Camelback Ranch.
Catcher Shea Langeliers and the A’s wasted no time getting started on offense against Dylan Cease. Langeliers doubled with one out in the first to set the table for an early rally. Seth Brown followed with a single to put runners on the corners, and a defensive lapse allowed Oakland to get on the board. Brown stole second base, and a throwing error by Yasmani Grandal allowed Langeliers to score and Brown to advance to third. Oakland cashed in on the error again when Ryan Noda hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Brown. At the end of the inning, Oakland led by a pair, though only one of the runs charged to Cease was earned.
The score remained 2-0 until the third, when Hanser Alberto launched a solo home run to lead off the bottom half. The White Sox were in a good position to build on Alberto’s home run when Victor Reyes followed with a single, but Reyes got picked off by Langeliers. That may have been costly, as Leury García later doubled, but there was nobody on base to drive in.
In the sixth, with Joe Kelly on the mound, the A’s extended their lead back to two. Brown got the scoring opportunity started with a single, and Brent Rooker drove him in with a double. In the bottom half, however, the White Sox came back to life. Elvis Andrus led off with a double, he advanced to third on a ground out by Oscar Colás, and Andrew Benintendi walked. Seby Zavala drove Andrus in with a sacrifice fly to trim the deficit back to one.
In the bottom of the seventh, the White Sox rallied with two outs and nobody on base. Reyes and Erik González hit back-to-back doubles to knot the game up at three. Then, in a high-leverage situation, Billy Hamilton (aka Billy the Hitter) delivered a go-ahead RBI single. Then, Billy the Runner stole third and Craig Dedelow walked, but Adam Haseley popped out to hold the lead at 4-3, White Sox.
In the eighth, the A’s ensured that they did not trail for long. Back-to-back doubles against Lane Ramsey by Oakland’s Darell Hernaiz and Kyle McCann tied the game back up at four. Those doubles occurred with no outs, so Oakland could have taken the lead, but Ramsey settled down and retired the side.
The White Sox had a scoring threat in the bottom of the eighth, when Zavala led off with a double. After Zavala’s productive afternoon, JJ Muno took over as a pinch-runner. Muno advanced to third on a fly out by Jake Burger, but Yolbert Sánchez and Moisés Castillo struck out to end the opportunity.
It all came down to the ninth, when Mike Morin took over on the mound for the South Siders. After issuing a one-out walk, Morin got Tyler Soderstrom to ground into a double play, so the White Sox had a chance to walk it off in the bottom half.
Reyes led off with a strikeout, but a passed ball by McCann allowed him to reach base. González collected his second hit with a single, and suddenly, the White Sox were in an excellent position. Up to the plate stepped Billy the Hitter, who laid down a bunt. Pitcher Nolan Long got to the ball but made a throwing error, and Reyes scored to seal the victory.
The White Sox will be back in action on Wednesday at 3:05 p.m. Central. That game will be against the Giants (7-11) at Scottsdale Stadium, and Malachi Hayes will have your coverage at South Side Sox.