Athletics 9, White Sox 7: An eighth-inning RBI single by Brandon Inge gave Oakland the edge in a back-and-forth battle against host Chicago.

Jonny Gomes tied the game at 7 with a one-out solo home run against Matt Thornton (4-8) in the eighth. After back-to-back infield hits by Yoenis Cespedes and Chris Carter with two out, Inge greeted reliever Brett Myers with a base hit to right field that plated Cespedes with the decisive run.

Gomes added an RBI single in the ninth and Grant Balfour worked around a leadoff baserunner in the bottom of the inning to save it for Ryan Cook (5-2), who got the victory despite yielding a go-ahead RBI single to Chicago’s A.J. Pierzynski in the seventh inning.

Oakland took a 6-2 lead with five runs in the third inning and an RBI single by Josh Reddick in the fourth, but the White Sox slowly crept back. Tyler Flowers singled in a run in the fourth inning, and after Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer in the fifth, Flowers came back up and tied it with a solo blast in the sixth.

Chicago starter Francisco Liriano lasted only 3 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits and three walks. Philip Humber kept the White Sox in the game by tossing three innings of no-hit relief before handing the ball off to Jesse Crain, who retired the final two hitters of the seventh.

Travis Blackley allowed five runs, six hits and struck out six in five innings for Oakland, which is tied for the wild card lead with Tampa Bay, one-half game ahead of Detroit and Baltimore.

Chris Carter started the Athletics’ five-run third inning by singling home a pair of runs, and Derek Norris followed with a two-run ground-rule double.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The White Sox maintained their one-game lead over Detroit in the American League Central. The Tigers lost 2-1 at Texas on Saturday. ... Oakland’s 24-10 record since July 1 is the best in the majors ... The first five hitters of the game all struck out ... Oakland hitters came into the game batting only .182 against Liriano ... The Athletics have won nine of their last 12 road games ... Adam Dunn played first base for the White Sox in place of Paul Konerko, who was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list Friday.