Athletics 7, White Sox 6 (10 innings): Hope has left

Among a number of things, defense doomed the White Sox to a series loss to Oakland, as the Pale Hose dropped Saturday’s game, 7-6, in 10 innings. And the doom came early, and late.

Remember when the White Sox had a real outfielder playing right field? If you have an answer to this question, please let me know who it was.

To wit: Certified DH Eloy Jiménez was unable to properly read a fly ball off the bat of Tony Kemp to lead off the bottom of the first. A speedy Kemp took advantage, and turned it into a gift triple. He would score one batter later on a JJ Bleday sacrifice fly.

Jiménez must have felt bad about the misplayed ball, because in the top of the second he took an inside slider for a ride and tied the game, 1-1. From there, a two-out rally was instigated by a single from Yasmani Grandal; the Good Guys would load the bases, but to no one’s surprise, they would not cash in.

The South Siders may be hitting more home runs this year, but don’t be fooled, they are still singles-hitting machines. Three straight singles to start the top of the third put the White Sox on top, 2-1. Andrew Vaughn followed up the singles with an RBI fielder’s choice. It was not a base hit, but a productive out. There was an opportunity for more runs with runners on first and second and one out, but let’s not get greedy.

Six Pack of Stats

Pressure Play
Jake Burger’ K in the top of the eighth with one out and runners on first and second clocked in at 4.80 LI.

Pressure Cooker
Carlos Perez’s pLI was 3.58 today, coming through at 1-for-2 with an RBI double.

Top Play
JJ Bleday had the winning at-bat this afternoon, which amounted to .399 WPA, reaching on an error by Elvis Andrus and driving in Tyler Wade with the winning run.

Top Performer
Bleday also gets today’s crown, with a .503 WPA. He went 1-for-5 with two RBIs.

---

Hardest Hit
Luis Robert Jr. beat out Eloy Jiménez with a 109.9 mph double in the top of the eighth.

Weakest Contact
Tony Kemp’s single in the bottom of the eighth registered at a cool 52.8 mph.

Luckiest Hit
Robert’s single to lead off the ninth inning had an .040 xBA.

Toughest Out
Jiménez had a 107.7 mph ground out in the fifth to win this title.

Longest Hit
Jiménez was all over the ball today, clocking a 433-foot homer in the second.

---

Magic Number: 0
As in: No chance. After dropping a series to a team 40 games worse than .500, the White Sox can’t come back from this.

Oakland rallied back for runs in the fifth, including a single through the box that was a bit scary, ricocheting off of Dylan Cease. But the mustachioed one was able to limit Oakland’s scoring to a single run, preserving the White Sox lead.

Do I have good news for you in the bottom of the sixth? No, I do not. After a strikeout to Seth Brown, Jace Peterson tripled and Ryan Noda doubled to tie the game, 3-3. Cease’s day would finish after the double, leaving him responsible for Noda at second.

Gregory Santos, who has been a bright spot in the bullpen this season, entered the game and immediately allowed a walk and a single to load the bases with only one out. Santos was gifted the second out on a generous strike-three call, and a Tony Kemp ground out avoided catastrophe. Cease would end the day with a no-decision, his seventh straight start without a win or a loss.

Did you think I was done with the bad news? Of course you didn’t. Keynan Middleton got two quick outs in the seventh, but Seth Brown decided to dampen the mood with a solo home run to put the A’s up, 4-3.

I have some good news. The White Sox tied the game back up in the top of the eighth thanks to a single by Grandal. Even better, the Good Guys would go up, 5-4, on a two-out, two-strike, pinch-hit double by Carlos Pérez. Some good old fashioned walk offense by Andrew Benintendi plated the third run of the inning, all with two outs.

I had REALLY good news ... and then a successful challenge took it away. Just know that Tim Anderson was very close to hitting a grand slam to break the game open, but his blast was just foul; instead, he flew out to right field to end the inning and the White Sox threat.

You’ve heard of walk offense, I now present to you: balk offense. This is exactly how Oakland scored their fifth run of the game. Their sixth run and the tying run? Scored on a soft ground ball single to Vaughn. Yes, you read that correctly.

The last two innings of the game were brought to you by wasted opportunity. Luis Robert Jr. led the top of the ninth inning off with a single. After stealing second base, he got picked off trying to advance to third. Jake Burger promptly struck out, stranding Vaughn and taking us, improbably, to Oakland walk-off territory.

Walk-off they did. In the bottom of the 10th, Tyler Wade came around to score from second base on a fielding error by Elvis Andrus.

Your series loss to the worst team in baseball has been delivered.