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A's finally back Lester in rout of White Sox

Sep 10, 2014 - 5:33 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - The Oakland Athletics finally gave Jon Lester some run support.

Lester fired eight innings of two-run ball, while Josh Donaldson posted five hits, four RBI and two runs scored as the A's pounded the Chicago White Sox, 11-2, in the second of a four-game set.

Lester (14-10) struck out eight and allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks.

"Since he's been here that's the best life he's had on his fastball," A's manager Bob Melvin said of Lester.

The A's had averaged just 3.4 runs per game during an 8-19 stretch coming in while giving Lester four total runs of support in his last four starts. Lester was 0-3 with a 2.67 ERA during that stretch.

Sam Fuld went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI and runs scored and Derek Norris added three hits an RBI and a run scored.

John Danks (9-11) gave up four runs -- two earned -- on seven hits and a walk over six innings for Chicago.

"It's no fun to lose, no fun to not even hardly compete," Danks said.

Oakland plated two runs in the fourth, two more the fifth and another in the seventh to jump out to a 5-0 lead.

Donaldson led off the fourth with a single and Jonny Gomes followed with a double before Donaldson came home on Norris' groundout. Jed Lowrie then bounced out and Gomes scored when Marcus Semien committed a throwing error on a grounder to third off the bat of Nate Freiman.

Semien then botched a Coco Crisp grounder to start the fifth and Craig Gentry's bunt single put runners on the corners. Donaldson then doubled to push across Crisp and pinch-runner Josh Reddick.

Lowrie's RBI single in the seventh gave Oakland its five-run cushion.

Chicago got a pair of runs back in the home half. Dayan Viciedo cracked a leadoff shot and Carlos Sanchez added an RBI double to cut the deficit to 5-2.

The A's, though, added some insurance after scoring a run in the eighth and broke open the game with five more in the ninth.

Reddick had an RBI groundout in the eighth, while Eric Sogard lined a run- scoring base hit and Fuld and Donaldson each added two-run singles.

Game Notes

Oakland had played six straight one-run games heading in, losing five of them ... The White Sox have dropped five of their last six games ... The A's were 9-for-22 with runners in scoring position, while Chicago finished 0-for-4.