Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland A’s thanks to wild pitch offense

The Chicago White Sox came into Saturday night’s game against the Oakland Athletics looking to even the series up after a 7-3 loss to the A’s on Friday night. Johnny Cueto took the mound and was solid despite the fact he allowed two home runs.

The game came down to the final half-inning and the Sox walked away with a 3-2 win and got back to .500.

The scoring began in the top of the 1st inning as Oakland’s Sean Murphy blasted a home run several rows deep into the left-field seats to put the A’s up 1-0. The A’s would get another home run (this one from Seth Brown) in the top of the third to go up 2-0. That home run came with two outs.

The Sox and A’s slowed down to a near halt offensively for a few innings before Gavin Sheets blasted a home run into the stands to score himself and Andrew Vaughn (who was hit by a pitch to get on base). This tied it up 2-2 in the bottom of the 7th inning.

The Chicago White Sox came back and earned a big win at their home field.

The game became interesting at that point. The White Sox brought Jimmy Lambert to the mound in place of Cueto in the top of the eighth inning. The hope was that Lambert would be able to hold off the A’s and keep them from scoring any additional runs. He was able to do that.

Closer Liam Hendriks came in at the top of the 9th inning to help keep the A’s at bay. He was able to hold the A’s scoreless meaning that the White Sox had a chance to win it in the bottom of the 9th. Chicago was able to get a double thanks to Sheets and then, because of a wild pitch, pinch-runner Adam Engel was able to score and get the Sox a 3-2 victory.

Cueto went seven full innings allowing two home runs and six hits. He allowed just two runs and had an ERA of 2.86. He gave up just one walk and had two strikeouts. He played well despite allowing those two home runs and has become the starting rotation’s “marathon man”.

The evening was special for the White Sox as they celebrated Minnie Minoso’s induction into the Hall of Fame last weekend. A special ceremony was held on the field which involved his wife and his son along with Jose Abreu and Yoan Moncada.

The White Sox will finish up their series against the A’s on Sunday and will hope that they can win on Sunday to win the series and continue to keep pace with the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians. The AL Central lead is not out of reach yet and games like this prove that Chicago still has plenty left in the tank and the desire to win.