Oakland 17, Chi. White Sox 6
When: 8:10 PM ET, Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Where: U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago, Illinois
Temperature:
78°
Umpires:
Home -
Rob Drake, 1B -
Stu Scheurwater, 2B -
D.J. Reyburn, 3B -
Joe West
Attendance:
12446
By The Sports Xchange
CHICAGO -- The Oakland Athletics needed to have a good night. So did Chicago White Sox starter Jeff Samardzija.
Only the Athletics got what they wanted.
Josh Reddick homered and drove in four runs, Billy Butler had three hits with three RBIs, and Oakland routed Samardzija and the White Sox 17-6 on Tuesday night.
Marcus Semien also homered for the Athletics, who scored 10 times in the fourth inning and set a new season-high in scoring. All nine starters drove in at least one run and Max Muncy was the only one without a hit for Oakland, which recovered from dropping an 8-7, five-hour, 9-minute 14-inning decision early Tuesday morning.
On Sunday, they lost 12-4 in Texas in a game that lasted three hours and 52 minutes. Tuesday was 3 hours, 31 minutes, but it was worth Oakland's time.
"The only down side about a game like this is it took just as long almost as last night it felt like," Reddick quipped. "For us, it's been rough because we played a four-hour game in Texas two days ago and then coming in last night and tonight being as extensive."
Aaron Brooks went six-plus innings and allowed six runs and 10 hits, but still eased to his first win since Aug. 1 to snap a three-decision losing streak. During the offense's lengthy fourth, Brooks went out to the Oakland bullpen to throw and stay loose.
"Long inning," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "It's tough."
Brooks said he tried not to change his approach with all the run support.
"Definitely want to go out there and throw as many strikes as possible, force contact when we get runs like that," Brooks said.
Despite his struggles, Brooks (2-3) was much better than Samardzjia.
Traded to Chicago over the offseason for a package of prospects led by Semien and pitcher Chris Bassitt, Samardzija (9-13) has been a disappointment for the underachieving White Sox. Tuesday might have been his worst outing of the year, with the pending free agent giving up a career-high 10 runs and 11 hits in three-plus innings, ballooning his ERA to 5.27. Five came in the first, giving him 29 first-inning earned runs allowed this year.
"It's been tough, especially it's tough to do when you've got your position players out there pitching on the day you start," Samardzija said. "It doesn't feel good and it's not what you want. Like we've said before, you look forward and you keep going and get back on the film and figure out what you need to do to get better."
With the game out of hand, infielder Leury Garcia pitched a scoreless eighth and Alexei Ramirez matched him in the ninth for Chicago, which according to Elias used two position players to pitch for the second time in team history and first since 1902.
"You really don't like doing that. The way the bullpen was the last few days we're very light out there," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "Leury has done it before, Alexei is probably the best equipped to throw strikes and make the best of a bad situation."
Melky Cabrera homered in the fifth and Ramirez added a solo shot in the seventh, but by then Chicago had little chance for a rally because of Oakland's offensive explosion that dropped Samardzija to 1-8 in his last nine starts.
"I don't feel sorry for myself, I don't hang my head. I'm a competitor and I always will be," Samardzija said. "Like I said, at times it's tougher than it is other times. It's tougher where we're at right now, just have to keep going."
NOTES: Oakland RHP Jesse Chavez was expected to start Wednesday, but he has a non-displaced fracture in his right ribcage and is out for the season. RHP Cody Martin will start in place of Chavez. ... Oakland entered Tuesday a season-high 22 games below .500, marking the first time they've been that far below since finishing the 1997 season 32 games under. ... The White Sox entered Tuesday with a six-game winning streak over Oakland, their longest since winning nine in a row in 1996 and 1997. ... Chicago OF Trayce Thompson was not in the lineup after suffering a hyperextended left elbow in the ninth inning of Monday's game. He was listed as day to day. ... 1B/DH Adam LaRoche wasn't in Chicago's starting lineup. He has been battling tendinitis in his right knee for more than a week. ... On Wednesday, Martin will face RHP Erik Johnson (1-0, 3.27 ERA), who will be making his first career start against Oakland.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Oakland
|
19 |
2 |
32 |
.413 |
24 |
8 |
16 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
Chi. White Sox
|
12 |
2 |
18 |
.333 |
18 |
10 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
2 |