The Chicago White Sox extended their Camelback Ranch unbeaten streak to five games with a 5-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday. Despite being down 3-1 in the sixth inning, Chicago rallied to get the win.
The first inning saw Oakland take an early 2-0 lead with help from some Chicago misfortune. Shea Langeliers scored the first run on a throwing error by Yasmani Grandal which also allowed Seth Brown to take third base. Brown would later cross home plate on a sacrifice fly from Ryan Noda, giving the Athletics a two-run lead.
The third inning saw the White Sox cut the A’s lead in half, courtesy of a Hanser Alberto solo shot to left field. Both teams added one run each in the sixth, and in the seventh, the South Siders pulled in front. Erik Gonzalez hit an RBI double to tie the game and later scored the go-ahead run on a Drew Swift throwing error to give the White Sox a 4-3 lead.
Swift was attempting to throw out Billy Hamilton at first base for the third out, but his throw was off the mark, allowing Gonzalez to reach home plate. Despite the Oakland mishap, the Chicago lead didn’t last long.
Kyle McCann hit an RBI double in the top of the eighth to tie the game once more at 4-4. The score would remain that way heading into the bottom of the ninth, meaning the game would either end in a tie or a White Sox victory. The White Sox tied with the Angels on Sunday, and as the bottom of the ninth would show, perhaps the baseball gods didn’t want the Camelback Ranch faithful to bear witness to another anticlimactic result.
In a strangely similar way to how the White Sox got their fourth run, they would win the game on an erroneous attempt to throw out Billy Hamilton at first base. WIth runners on first and second, Hamilton connected on a sacrifice bunt that was sent directly toward A’s pitcher Nolan Long. Long’s throw to first base was too low and went into foul territory, allowing Victor Reyes to score the winning run. In a game where small ball and errors were prevalent, it was only fitting that the game ended the way it did.
While Billy Hamilton certainly made his mark on the game, another notable Chicago performance came on the mound. Dylan Cease got the start, and he bounced back in a big way from his last spring training appearance against the Royals where he got charged with 11 earned runs. In Tuesday’s game, Cease allowed only one earned run, while striking out four batters in 3.1 innings pitched.
The White Sox next game is on Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants, and the Athletics will play the Seattle Mariners on the same day.
White Sox defeat A’s 5-4 on walk-off error
