Rare Oakland sweep eludes Sox as 'pen can't get the job done
The theme was 1929 Throwback Day in Oakland, a date when the A's played in Philadelphia and manager Connie Mack wore a suit in the dugout.
The White Sox would have settled for turning back the clock 12 years - the last time they swept the A's in Oakland.
They had a chance to match that feat on Sunday, but couldn't hold a late 2-0 lead and lost 3-2 when A's second baseman Mark Ellis drilled a two-out home run off Bobby Jenks in the bottom of the ninth. Though the ball barely cleared the left-field fence, the Sox lost for the fifth straight time when attempting a series sweep.
"These losses obviously hurt and they stick in your mind for a while," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters after the game. "But as soon as we hit the field again we'll be fine. You just can't carry one day to the next."
When the Sox return home tonight to face Kansas City, they'll be without designated hitter Jim Thome. He left Sunday's game after his second at bat with a sore foot. Carlos Quentin was not in the lineup due to a sore knee.
The loss spoiled a strong outing by lefty John Danks, who allowed 2 runs in 71/3 innings. Neither Danks nor Oakland's 21-year-old rookie Trevor Cahill allowed a run through 5 innings.
"I felt great. I felt like I was pretty efficient," Danks said. "The goal has been to throw strikes and make them hit the ball."
The Sox broke through in the top of the sixth when Mark Kotsay led off with a double to right and scored on Scott Podsednik's triple to center. After a pair of walks loaded the bases, Thome's sacrifice fly put the visitors ahead 2-0.
Danks gave up his first run in the seventh, but did a nice job of limiting the damage after the A's put runners on second and third with nobody out. Danks struck out Tommy Everidge before Ellis brought home Nomar Garciaparra with a sacrifice fly. A fly out ended the inning with the Sox clinging to a 2-1 edge.
With one out in the eighth, Oakland's Rajai Davis dropped a soft liner into right-center field and was safe on a close play at second. Second baseman Jayson Nix also missed a chance to reapply the tag when Davis overslid the base. Guillen came out to argue the call.
"The umpires have a better angle and are closer than we are in the dugout," Guillen said. "I went out to question whether my second baseman dropped the ball or not."
Guillen emerged from the dugout again to replace Danks with Octavio Dotel. Two batters later, Naperville native Scott Hairston belted a double off the left-field wall, just beyond the reach of a leaping Podsednik, and the score was tied.
In the ninth, Jenks retired the first two batters on fly balls before Ellis connected for his sixth home run of the season.
"Two bad pitches and they win the game," Guillen said. "We should have scored more runs for Danks. He pitched a great game. We had the right guys in the right place."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike McGraw's game tracker</p> <p class="News"><b>So close to sweep:</b> The White Sox gave up single runs in each of the last three innings and lost 3-2 in Oakland on Sunday afternoon. Reliever Bobby Jenks gave up a game-winning homer to A's second baseman Mark Ellis with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.</p> <p class="News"><b>Danks stays sharp:</b> After a rough outing against the Angels on Aug. 6, lefty John Danks delivered his second strong outing in a row, allowing 2 runs and 8 hits in 71/3 innings. He gave up 1 run in 8 innings while beating Seattle on Tuesday.</p> <p class="News"><b>Safe by a hair: </b>The Sox thought A's outfielder Rajai Davis was out at second base when he tried to stretch a bloop hit into a double in the eighth inning. Davis was called safe on a close play and tied the game two batters later, scoring on a double off the wall by Naperville North grad Scott Hairston.</p>