The Athletics had chances. Plenty of them. They just never found the hit that mattered, and that left them staring at a 1-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox that sealed the series for Chicago and pushed the A’s deeper into their skid.
This one was there for the taking more than once. The A’s put runners in scoring position in the second inning and again in the sixth, then got a leadoff triple from Jacob Wilson in the eighth and still came away empty. By the end of the afternoon, they had gone 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.
That was the story of the game: missed openings, one after another.
The first real crack at a lead came in the second. Against White Sox left-handed opener Bryan Hudson and then left-hander Chris Murphy, the A’s picked up a single and a walk, but Jeff McNeil flew out to left fielder Randal Grichuk to leave runners at second and third with two outs. Grichuk made a diving catch on the bloop to keep the game scoreless, and Chicago kept surviving.
A’s starter J.T. Jump did his part to keep the game tight.
He worked out of trouble in the second and third innings, including a double play that erased a two-on, one-out jam in the third. Chicago also left a leadoff double on the table in the fifth, as Jump retired the next three hitters to get through five scoreless innings.
Then the A’s offense missed again.
In the sixth, Jacob Wilson singled infield and Tyler Soderstrom walked with one out, putting the go-ahead run on base. But Fedde escaped by striking out the next two hitters, finishing four scoreless innings as the bulk pitcher for Chicago. Shea Langeliers, in the middle of a deep slump, was one of the bats that couldn’t deliver.
Chicago finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth. Colson Montgomery walked, then scored when Chase Meidroth lined a two-out double down the left field line.
That was it for Jump, who allowed one run on five hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking two. He also kept the ball on the ground, with six ground-ball outs.
The A’s bullpen held the line after that. Luis Medina came in, hit the first batter he faced, then struck out the next to keep the deficit at one. Hogan Harris and Medina each worked a scoreless inning of relief, giving the offense every chance to answer.
The answer never came.
Joshua Kuroda-Grauer opened the seventh with a double to left, forcing Fedde out of the game. Chicago turned to left-handed reliever Sean Newcomb, a former Athletic, and Lawrence Butler drew his second walk of the day.
With nobody out and two on, the A’s had a clean path to tie the game or better. Instead, Colby Thomas and Alika Williams were retired, and Bolte struck out to end the inning.
Bolte has cooled off after his hot start, and the White Sox kept finding ways to get him out. That pattern showed up again in a game where the A’s never got the big swing they needed.
Wilson gave them another opening in the eighth, ripping his first triple of the season. He was stranded there.
Soderstrom hit a hard grounder right to the shortstop, then Grant Taylor entered and shut the door. Taylor struck out Langeliers and got Jonah Heim to ground out, with Langeliers finishing 0-for-3 and striking out three times, including the last two with runners in scoring position.
With Nick Kurtz on the injured list, that kind of night from the catcher stood out even more.
Taylor closed it out with a five-out save, the White Sox picked up their second straight win, and the A’s dropped their eighth in a row.
For the afternoon, the pitching staff deserved better. This loss belonged to the offense.
Only Wilson and Kuroda-Grauer had hits, while Butler quietly reached base three times with walks in four plate appearances. But the big number was the one that keeps sinking the A’s: no timely hit, no run, no chance.
They’ve scored five runs through the first five games of this road trip, and now they’re on the brink of a third straight sweep. The final game before the All-Star break comes tomorrow, with J.T.
Ginn set to face Noah Schultz. The question now is simple: will the Green and Gold go into the break with a win, or carry this losing streak into the second half?
In Other News...
Shea Langeliers Just Reached Rare Air In A's History
Shea Langeliers has become one of the more important success stories to come out of the Matt Olson trade, the kind of player Oakland hoped it was getting when it brought him over from Atlanta. Since arriving, he has settled in as the Athletics starting catcher and kept taking steps forward, turning promise into production while becoming a fixture in the middle of the lineup.
Now he has added a rare place in franchise history to the rsum. Langeliers is one of only nine As players since 1968 to put together at least four straight 20-homer seasons, and he is the only one to do it as a full-time catcher. For a club that has spent years searching for stability and impact at that position, his rise gives Oakland something it has not had in a long time, even if the bigger question around the roster still hangs in the background. [Read more 🡒]
As Embarrassing White Sox Loss Put An Even Uglier Spotlight On This Slide
The Athletics trip through Chicago turned into another rough night at Rate Field, where the White Sox rolled past them and kept Oaklands recent slide in full view. The As offense never found much traction, and the game quickly took on the look of one of those losses that can linger because it offers so little to build on.
Oakland did get a solo home run from Tyler Soderstrom, but it was a small consolation in a game that only deepened the clubs frustration. The defeat pushed the Athletics losing streak to seven, and with the White Sox putting together one of their most complete showings of the season, the As were left trying to move on from a result that only sharpened the questions around where this stretch is headed. [Read more 🡒]
A's Suddenly Face A Brutal White Sox Test During This Skid
The Athletics have spent the last week trying to stop a slide that has now reached seven straight losses, and the timing has made things even uglier. Sweeps by the Marlins and Tigers already put the club on the back foot, and the White Sox have only deepened the frustration with a lopsided result in the series opener. The bigger issue has been on the mound, where the pitching staff has been forced to lean heavily on the bullpen while young ace Gage Jump and the rest of the rotation have struggled to give the team the kind of innings it needs.
That leaves the final two games of the set in a tricky spot, with limited bullpen options and a lineup that needs more help to keep pace. Oakland has been waiting for more from its offense, but the pressure has only grown with Zack Gelof on the injured list and Nick Kurtz trending toward one, which makes the margin for error even thinner. The A's still have a chance to salvage something from the series, but they will need better length from the starters and a few more timely swings to avoid letting this skid get any worse. [Read more 🡒]