The Chicago White Sox found some offense late in Saturday’s win over the Oakland A’s. Gavin Sheets provided the power with his game-tying home run in the seventh inning. Johnny Cueto proved once again to be the White Sox’s most reliable starter outside of Dylan Cease. The South Siders took advantage of a ninth-inning gaffe to secure a 3-2 walk-off win.
Dia de Cueto
Johnny Cueto was as effective as ever on Saturday night. It’s starting to sound like a broken record at this point, but Cueto has stabilized the White Sox’s starting pitching. Cueto lowered his ERA on the year to 2.86 and kept the Sox in the game until the offense arrived. The veteran tossed seven strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits and one walk while fanning two. The only Oakland runs came via solo homers from Seth Brown and Sean Murphy.
Wasted Opportunities
The White Sox offense was lifeless for the majority of the game. They also couldn’t find any timely hitting. The Sox put runners on first and second with two outs in the fourth, runners on second and third with no outs in the fifth, and runners on first and second with one out in the sixth. They failed to convert on any of those opportunities against A’s start Paul Blackburn or reliever A.J. Puk. Blackburn tossed five innings, allowing just five hits and fanning four.
Late Surge
It took until the seventh inning for the White Sox to get themselves in a winning position. Austin Pruitt relieved Puk and plunked Andrew Vaughn to lead off the inning. Gavin Sheets came to the plate and delivered the game-tying two-run homer to right field on the first pitch.
Jimmy Lambert and Liam Hendriks pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively. Sheets came through again with a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth. Tony La Russa sent Adam Engel out to pinch run for Sheets, and Engel advanced to third on Josh Harrison’s sacrifice bunt. A’s reliever Zach Johnson threw his fourth pitch to Tim Anderson into the dirt, allowing Engel to score the game-winning run.
Notes
Minnie Minoso, inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame last Sunday, was honored in a pregame ceremony.
Luis Robert sat out a rehab assignment game with Triple-A Charlotte due to cold symptoms.
Shortstop Tim Anderson will appeal his three-game suspension for making contact with the home plate umpire Friday night.
What’s On Tap Next?
Dylan Cease will toe the rubber for the Chicago White Sox in Sunday afternoon’s rubber match. The Cy Young Candidate hasn’t allowed a run in his last 20.2 innings and has won three straight. The A’s will send Adam Oller to the mound. The game will air on NBC Sports Chicago at 1:10 PM CT and Sox On Tap will have the postgame show.
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