OAKLAND, CA – The White Sox (1-0) and the Athletics (0-1) were back in action on Tuesday evening, a night after the White Sox defeated the A’s 4-3 on Opening Day on the strength of a Chris Sale gem, recovering from a rough third inning to hold a one run lead through the seventh inning. Jose Quintana got the start for the White Sox, he was opposed by A’s starter Chris Bassitt, with ace Sonny Gray still recovering from food poisoning.
In the bottom of the third inning A’s second-baseman Jed Lowrie put the A’s in the scoring column with an RBI single to right-field, scoring former White Sox catcher Josh Phegley to give the A’s a 1-0 lead after three in the bay.
In the top of the fifth inning new White Sox third-baseman Todd Frazier smacked a three run-homer to left-field, scoring Adam Eaton and Jimmy Rollins. The White Sox led 3-1 after the Frazier home run.
The A’s answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth inning when Jed Lowrie singled to right-field, again scoring Josh Phegley. Lowrie picked up his fourth RBI of the season, while cutting the White Sox lead to 4-2 after five innings.
In the top of the sixth inning Austin Jackson plated Brett Lawrie on an infield single to the shortstop Marcus Semien, extending the White Sox lead to 4-2.
Matt Albers relieved Jose Quintana in the bottom of the sixth inning, Quintana pitched 5.2 innings allowing two runs, on seven hits while striking out seven and walking none on the evening.
Albers was solid in his 1.1 innings of work, no runs on just one base hit preserving the White Sox lead through seven innings. Zach Duke entered the ballgame in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing a single to Oakland right-fielder Josh Reddick, before being replaced by Nate Jones. Jones retired Danny Valencia on a line-out to Adam Eaton in right-field. Jones hit Oakland left-fielder Khris Davis to set the A’s up with runners at first, and second base with just one out. Jones allowed a two out, RBI single to A’s first-baseman Yonder Alonso to right-field, scoring Reddick and Davis, trying the game at four-a-piece after eighth innings.
In the top of the ninth inning with two outs, White Sox shortstop Jimmy Rollins smacked a go-ahead solo home run to left field off of A’s closer Sean Doolittle, giving the White Sox a 5-4 lead over the A’s.
White Sox closer David Robertson retired the A’s in order in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the White Sox the 5-4 win in Oakland. The White Sox improved to 2-0 on the year, two games over .500, a mark that they never reached in 2015. The White Sox and the Athletics are back in action tomorrow night at 9:05 PM (CT) on CSN Chicago. The White Sox will send Carlos Rodon to the mound to match-up against Oakland ace Sonny Gray.
WP: Nate Jones (1-0) / LP: Sean Doolittle (0-1) / S: David Robertson (2)
Notables:
- Jimmy Rollins: 1/5, 1R, 2 RBI, Game Winning HR in top of the ninth inning.
- Todd Frazier: 2/5, HR, 3 RBI
- Jose Quintana: 5.2 IP, 2R, 7H, 7K, 0BB