Athletics defeat the White Sox 12-4 in Chicago

The Oakland Athletics took on the Chicago White Sox in the second game of a four-game series tonight at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. Mark Kotsay sent 34-year-old righty Zach Neal to the mound to face the White Sox. Neal is 0-0 with an 8.25 ERA this season. This was his first start of the 2023 campaign. Dylan Cease started for the Sox tonight. The 27-year-old righty is 5-6 with a 4.50 ERA in his twenty-six 2023 starts.

Brent Rooker walked to lead off the second inning. Tony Kemp followed with a base hit. Shea Langeliers moved Rooker over with a fly out to centerfield. Lawrence Butler got his third career RBI with a base hit to center. Nick Allen singled to drive home Kemp and moved Butler to third. Ryan Noda singled up the middle to drive in both Butler and Allen. Zack Gelof continued his hot hitting with a double to drive in Noda. After the top of the second was completed, the A’s led 5-0.

The Sox got two back quickly in the bottom of the second inning when Lenyn Sosa homered with Oscar Colas on first. At the end of two, the A’s were still on top, 5-2.

The Sox jumped right back into the game in the next inning with a double by Tim Anderson and then a walk by Andrew Benintendi. Luis Robert Jr. grounded into a force at third. Yoan Moncada then doubled to drive in Benintendi.

Jonah Bride led off the fourth with a double off the wall in left field. Nick Allen then singled to drive in the sixth run of the night for the A’s.

Tony Kemp and then Shea Langeliers walked to lead off the fifth inning. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third with one out. Jonah Bride drew the third walk of the inning to load the bases. Nick Allen drove in his third and fourth run of the night with a base hit to left field scoring Kemp and Langeliers. That chased Dylan Cease with the score 8-3. Ryan Noda grounded into a force out, but that drove in Jonah Bride for the ninth A’s run.

In the bottom of the fifth, Eloy Jimenez hit a solo homer to center field to bring the score 9-4.

Seth Brown was hit by a 91 MPH fastball to start the sixth inning. Rooker and Kemp each singled to load the bases. Shea Langeliers grounded into a double play (third to second base) but that scored Brown. Langeliers stole his third base of the season, but Butler struck out to end the inning.

Zach Neal was done after five with a solid line of five hits, two earned runs, three walks and two K’s. He left in line for the win with a 10-4 lead. Sean Newcomb threw a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth inning.

The bats exploded again in the seventh inning for the A’s. After Jonah Bride lined out to start the inning, Nick Allen and Ryan Noda homered back-to-back to increase the lead to 12-4. Out of the ninth spot in the lineup Allen has gone four-for-four with five RBIs on the night.

In the top of the eighth, Brent Rooker singled to centerfield and Tony Kemp was hit on the foot with an 81 MPH curveball. But Lawrence Butler grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Francisco Perez relieved Newcomb in the eighth. He tossed a 1-2-3 frame and came back to close out the ninth inning effectively. This win is the second in a row for the A’s who exploded for fifteen hits in a 12-4 victory.

Tonight was 90s night at Guaranteed Rate Park. The Sox must have been trying to muster up nineties mojo since they had the fourth best record in the majors during the decade at 816-738. By comparison, the A’s ranked fifteenth with a 773-771 record. In an odd twist, the White Sox wore their City Connect unis (released in 2022) to commemorate 90s night.