Boyle shelled in 8-2 losing affair

While the A’s celebrated a walk-off 8-6 victory in what was an entertaining pound-for-pound game against the Cincinnati Reds, the other half of their split-squad had a different storyline in their game against the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox would jump all over A’s pitching Friday, namely against starter Joe Boyle, in an 8-2 victory.

Chicago was able to put the pressure on Boyle early and often to leave a sour taste for his final Cactus League start in what was an otherwise impressive spring.

A walk, bunt single, and double steal gave the White Sox runners on second and third just two batters into the game. Boyle would get an out off an Andrew Vaughn groundout, but the White Sox were already on the board and not going to stop anytime soon.

The next batter, Rafael Ortega walked and stole second to set up second and third yet again. Paul Dejong would score him and another immediately on a two-run RBI single. Boyle was replaced by Stevie Emanuels, and Emanuels was greeted by Dominic Fletcher who smacked a two-run home run to give Chicago a 5-0 advantage in the first.

The A’s would get one of those runs back immediately after an Esteury Ruiz single and Hoy Park RBI double. With two more hits on Friday, Park is up to a whopping .475 this spring with 19 hits across 40 Cactus League at-bats.

Boyle would be reinserted for the second and third innings and fare much better. He worked a scoreless two frames while striking out four, walking one and not surrendering a hit but the White Sox would get right back to work in the fourth.

After a Fletcher single and stolen base — the White Sox's fourth at the time already — veteran backstop Martin Maldonado brought him home with a ground-rule double. Another double by Brett Phillips, a wild pitch, and a Nicky Lopez RBI single grew the lead to 8-1 and ended Boyle's day.

Boyle wasn’t able to get out of the fourth but worked three complete innings on the day while surrendering six hits, seven earned runs, and striking out four. For as badly as he was shelled, four stolen bases in just three innings is just as alarming.

Thanks to the A’s bullpen, the White Sox wouldn’t score another run from the fourth inning on.

Lucas Erceg worked a masterful fifth where he sent down the side in order, and Mitch Spence one-upped him going 2.2 innings of scoreless ball while striking out two. He also retired the sixth in order on three ground balls.

The A’s would scratch across another run in the eighth inning thanks to a Carlos Perez solo big fly, his first of the spring. Perez has had a rough go this spring with just four hits in 32 at-bats but he still headlines the A’s backup catcher competition with just a few days to go before the official roster is released. His competition, Kyle McCann, went 0-2 on Friday.

But other than that, the A’s offense went cold for the majority of Friday’s game. They recorded seven scattered total hits — five of them singles — while striking out nine times as a lineup.

Tomorrow will be the A’s last Cactus League game before leaving for the Bay Area in next week's two-game Bay Bridge series on Monday and Tuesday. First pitch tomorrow is set for 12:05 p.m. PDT against the Los Angeles Angels at Hohokam Stadium.