Athletics 10, White Sox 2: Capacity crowd disappointed

I had to catch up on this game after getting pulled away from it in the sixth inning, but I didn’t miss a lot.

I did see James Shields give up a walk and a homer before he recorded an out, deflating the rare midsummer sell-out crowd before it even got a chance to get in the game.

Matt Olson took him yard for his first homer, and remarkably, two teammates followed suit. Jaycob Brugman took him deep for his first career homer, and Franklin Barreto, making his Major League debut, added a two-run shot of his own to give Oakland a 6-0 lead and the authenticator a hand cramp.

The White Sox were able to take advantage of a couple of errors for a couple runs. Barreto’s two-out error in the third turned into a run after a couple of singles through the right side, and Adam Rosales Graffaninoed a double-play ball, allowing Tim Anderson to bring another run home via sac fly. That gave the Sox a puncher’s chance after four, but when Michael Ynoa gave up a bases-loaded infield single and Gregory Infante relieved him only to walk a run home, this game was effectively ovah.

Along with the three inaugural homers, Oakland also saw Daniel Gossett earn his first MLB victory. The Sox had a couple of good chances in the middle innings, but Avisail Garcia popped up on a hanger with two on in the fifth, and Kevan Smith bounced into a double play after an error put runners on the corners with one out in the sixth.

After that, the only action was yet another surprisingly quick ejection. A day after home plate umpire Jim Wolf ejected Tim Anderson following a brief argument, first-base umpire Sam Holbrook gave Todd Frazier a lightning-quick thumb after Frazier disputed both a call and a review. Holbrook said Frazier’s throw pulled Jose Abreu off the bag, and while the replay didn’t exactly show that, it wasn’t fine enough to absolutely show contact with the bag, so the call stood.

Rick Renteria was then run for the second time in as many games for protesting that a player was run too soon. That was the action I missed.

Bullet points:

*The ceremony to retire Mark Buehrle’s number drew 38,616 fans to Guaranteed Rate Field.

*Alen Hanson went 2-for-4 from the leadoff spot and made a great throw from center that thwarted Olson’s attempt to take second on a deep flyout.

Record: 32-41 | Box score | Highlights