But the White Sox have a tough lineup and they were still able to scratch out enough against him. There was some hard contact but not too much, and he avoided long rallies, and he kept the ball in the park, and he missed a ton of bats. Granted, it was a combination of high-profile stars in Michael Kopech, Craig Kimbrel, and Liam Hendriks, so matching that level of dominance isn’t necessarily a reasonable standard, but it’s sure an effective way to stop the opponent from mounting a late comeback.Īs for the A’s pitching, Frankie Montas snapped his streak of six straight quality starts but he wasn’t bad. In fact, Chicago’s bullpen recorded strikeouts for nine of their final 12 outs. A flyout could have salvaged Olson’s run, or a single could have tied the game, but the White Sox made their own luck by not allowing contact at all. On the other hand, they now had second and third with one out, and their hottest hitter Chapman at the plate, and that should have still resulted in a run but instead Chapman struck out and so did the next batter. Olson probably could have scored if the ball had stayed in the park, so perhaps that’s a bit a of bad fortune. With Matt Olson on first base, Jed Lowrie hit a deep drive to right-center that one-hopped the wall for an automatic double. They scattered a few individual runners but weren’t able to create anything out of it like Chicago did. | #RiseAndGrind /17xv5nqxNC- Oakland A's August 17, 2021 It's Chappy's world and we're just living in it.
But that was all they got, and while it was nice to see the rally produce more than zero, it was once again frustrating to see an inning that included a solo homer and three runners left on base - virtually any rearrangement in sequencing would have helped a lot. The bottom of the lineup proceeded to load the bases with a HBP and two walks, and Mark Canha came through with an RBI single. Matt Chapman homered, his fourth dinger in the last three games, though like all the others it was solo.
It started well enough, as the A’s struck first with a pair of runs in the 2nd.
Unfortunately, Oakland wasn’t able to rustle up enough of it tonight. The A’s themselves have gotten better at this style of play lately, especially thanks to their newest trade acquisitions, but the Sox put on a clinic in what to strive for. But on a night when none of their hits were finding gaps or walls, and when they never strung together more than three hits in one inning, they consistently made the extra play necessary to ensure they didn’t waste their scoring opportunities. Most of those singles were well-hit, and Chicago also crushed a few loud outs, so the small-ball wasn’t for lack of quality contact. Their only extra-base hit came in the 8th, and it was a solo homer. In the 6th it was a single, a steal, a productive groundout, and a squeeze bunt. In the 5th it was a groundball single, a bunt misplayed by the A’s best defender, then a liner off the glove of that same elite defender for an RBI. In the 4th it was a two-out single, then a walk, then an RBI single. In the 3rd inning, it was a pair of singles and a deep sac fly. They never extended a rally long enough to score twice in an inning, but they still pieced together five runs. But they reached base 14 times, between 10 hits, three walks, and a HBP, and once aboard they forced more action by hustling and continuing to make contact. *** Click here to revisit tonight’s Game Thread! ***Ĭhicago didn’t rely on power, and they only went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The White Sox scored in five different innings despite recording only one extra-base hit, and their bullpen shortened the game with a barrage of strikeouts, leaving the A’s on the wrong end of a 5-2 decision at Guaranteed Rate Field. Monday was everything we want to see more of from the Oakland A’s, except that it was the Chicago White Sox doing it.
0 kommentar(er)
