A’s drop series to White Sox

That would be it for Jeffrey Springs. He’d get out of the inning but overall, a pretty poor performance from the guy who had been our most reliable starter to start the season. Four home runs were offered up today by Springs. You would’ve thought he was Dillon Overton with the way the ball was leaving the yard.

On the offensive side, not a whole lot of damage was done by A’s hitters against the rookie Noah Schultz. He’d also be done for the day after five innings of work with the only run surrendered being that homer by Darell Hernaiz.

Now this is where things got interesting.

Tyler Soderstrom hit a one out double in the 7th inning. Darell Hernaiz reached first after a hard fought battle with reliever Grant Taylor that resulted in a walk. After a Lawrence Butler pinch hit strike out, Zack Gelof would get ahold of one, ripping it the other way for a bases clearing triple.

That hit knocked Taylor out of the game, setting up Jacob Wilson for a battle against Jordan Leasure. An eleven pitch tug-o-war between Wilson and Leasure resulted in a pop out to catcher Edgar Quero to end the inning. But Gelof would indeed score during that at-bat on a wild pitch.

7-4 White Sox going into the 8th inning.

A’s reliever Mason Barnett failed to record an out to start the 8th, so the A’s turned to flame thrower Luis Medina. He’d get Derek Hill to pop out on a bunt attempt, then suffer a wild pitch that moved the runners to second and third. Everyone was on the edge of the seat for the Andrew Benintendi at-bat, where Medina battled against the lefty before striking him out on a spinner. The hard hitting Chase Meidroth would be his next victim. He’d get him to ground out to second, ending the threat and setting the A’s up for another shot at the comeback.

Unfortunately no runs were scored in the 8th by the A’s. A two out double by Carlos Cortes had them in striking distance, but he’d end up stranded there. Max Muncy put a charge in one though it’d fall just a few steps short of the warning track.

Onto the 9th inning.

A scoreless inning by reliever Scott Barlow sent the A’s to the plate for their last chance at a miracle. The bottom of the 9th got going with a one out walk to Darell Hernaiz. Lawrence Butler couldn’t get it done (once again) but Jeff McNeil was a different story. Off the bench, he’d get hit by a fastball from White Sox closer Seranthony Dominguez!

So now it’s first and second…two outs…Jacob Wilson at the plate…and he’d pop out to end the game : (

Just like that the A’s drop the series against the Chicago White Sox and fall to 11-11. What a disappointing home stand it ended up being, despite featuring flashes of promise. They’ll now head to Seattle for what should be a highly contested series. Those Mariners actually took down the Texas Rangers this afternoon and the San Diego Padres beat the Angels. Which means as of this moment, the A’s, Rangers, and Angels are in a three way tie for the division.