White Sox avoid sweep with victory over A’s
Tim Anderson of the White Sox slides safely into second base with a steal as Oakland Athletics second baseman Tony Kemp, right, dives for an errant throw during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, July 2, 2023, in Oakland, Calif. Anderson advanced to third base on the error. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron)
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OAKLAND, Calif. — The White Sox avoided what would have been the biggest indictment on this disappointing season — a sweep at the hands of the lowly Oakland Athletics.
An 8-7 victory didn’t come without a scare. The A’s scored two in the ninth and weren’t put away until right fielder Clint Frazier, a defensive replacement, went to his knees to catch Joc Pederson’s fly ball. The A’s got to within a run when Seth Brown’s line fell in front of Frazier, who froze on the ball.
But Eloy Jimenez continued hitting everything hard or harder, Tim Anderson had his second productive offensive day in a row following the worst slump of his career and Jake Burger showed signs of a revival with two well-cracked hits including a 443-foot home run, his 18th of the season but just his second in his last 16 games.
Anderson singled twice, stole a base and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Jimenez had a pair of RBI singles, his fifth straight game with an RBI.
Zach Remillard, supplanting veteran Elvis Andrus as the go-to second baseman, drove in two runs with a single and alertly took third on left fielder JJ Bleday’s bobble on the warning track before scoring on Andrew Benintendi’s sacrifice fly.
In short, some good things happened after a wonky walk-off Saturday loss in which so much went wrong against the 23-63 A’s. That loss followed a 7-4 defeat Friday. The Sox (37-49) finished a West Coast trip at 3-4 trailing Minnesota (42-43) by 5 1⁄2 games in the soft AL Central.
Kopech to rest on injured list
The White Sox placed starting pitcher Michael Kopech on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation and purchased the contract of veteran reliever Bryan Shaw from Triple-A Charlotte.
The Sox also transferred infielder Romy Gonzalez (shoulder inflammation) from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.
Kopech’s turn to pitch would have been Sunday, but he has not been with the team in Oakland and manager Pedro Grifol had talked about giving possibly giving him one start this week at home for an extended rest over the upcoming All-Star break.
Kopech threw 102 pitches in four innings against the Angels in Anaheim Tuesday. Grifol said he’ll return to the rotation probably at the front end of the rotation after the All-Star beak, which would give him at least 17 days off.
“We just wanted to skip him one more time, to make sure he’s ready to go in the second half,” Grifol said. “Strong the whole second half. That’s basically it.”
Kopech, 27, is 3-7 with a 4.08 ERA in 16 starts and 86 innings this season. He pitched a career high 119 1⁄3 innings last season.
“I’ve always thought prior to coming in here this guy could be one of the best pitchers in the game, I still believe that,” Grifol said.
Full day for Shaw
Shaw, 35, arrived during the game, threw in the bullpen when starter Touki Toussaint (three runs allowed in 2 2⁄3 innings) got in trouble in the third after a perfect first and second and pitched the eighth inning. A’s All-Star DH Brent Rooker hit a two-run homer against Shaw to cut the Sox’ lead to 8-5.
Shaw is 2-0 with a 4.03 ERA and four saves in 21 games with Charlotte this season after signing with the Sox as a minor-league free agent on April 28.
He owns a 3.92 career ERA over 12 major-league seasons with Arizona, Cleveland, Colorado and Seattle.