Sox shaken and stirred in loss

So, who expected a loss after the White Sox went crooked-number crazy in the first and led, 5-0?

Anyone ... anyone? C’mon, somebody did. Gamethreads fast and furiously tread into dour territory these days, so, somebody, fess up.

Well, indeed it did happen: A 5-0 lead in the first inning, fueled by a two-out, three-run homer from birthday boy Tim Anderson (his 25th, for those of you ready to give up on a guy projected for 4 WAR this season) turned into a 7-6 loss to the Oakland A’s on Saturday.

Later in the game, in the sixth and after Oakland had completed its rally back to take the lead, 6-5, Anderson singled with one out in the bottom half and moved to second on an Adam Engel HBP (on a sac bunt attempt, natch), There, sensing Oakland reliever Santiago Casilla was all verklempt from wildness and would not check him at second, TA spurred a double-steal that put ducks on the pond.

Anderson is due for a fair amount of brain fart criticism in the field, but man, I hope we can get off his hiney. He has had a fabulous season, on track for perhaps the best Chisox shortstop campaign in more than a decade.

Anyway, well, Anderson did score on a Yoán Moncada grounder, knotting the game at six.

By that time, gross Oakland comeback from five runs down aside, there was bad news on the White Sox end. Top starter (Month or Less category) Dylan Covey left the game after four-plus innings, with groin tightness. Per Scott Merkin of MLB.com, Covey indicated he felt tightness on every pitch he threw today. So, it’s safe to say Covey will miss a start, likely two, with a 10-day DL stint.

Truthfully, though, Covey didn’t pitch well again today, making a second straight shaky start. He gave up four earned in this four frames, leaving in the process of walking Jonathan Lucroy in the fifth. Chris Volstad relieved and not only finished the walk to Lucroy, but had a three-run meltdown in the inning to hand Oakland the tie.

In the eighth, the game really turned ugly for the White Sox. Juan Minaya was well on his way to a 1-2-3 inning, having K’d Khris Davis and Matt Olson on just eight pitches to start the inning. But then Minaya left an 0-2 fluff of a two-seamer across the heart of the plate — and Stephen Piscotty choked on it, for a fly ball to right right field to end the inning.

Except, it didn’t end the inning, because Avisaíl García lost the ball in the sun, and it fell for one of those it-can’t-be-an-error-if-no-one-touches-it doubles. Tough break for Minaya, and the White Sox, because next up was Crystal Lake native Nick Martini, who took a 3-2 fastball to center for his first major-league hit — and the eventual game-winning RBI.

In the bottom half, Yolmer Sánchez led off with a double and then watched three Sox batters unable to do so much as move him to third base.

In the bottom of the ninth, the A’s gave the White Sox at least two extra outs, with Moncada and José Abreu getting on via errors. With one out and Moncada on second ready to Ricochet Rabbit home with the tying run, Matt Davidson jammed himself on a 1-0, 98 mph sinker from Blake Treinen and grounded into an game-ending double play.

The White Sox will try to eke out a series split, with Carlos Rodon taking the bump.