Final
Athletics-White Sox Preview
Sep 8, 2009 - 1:23 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior WriterOakland (61-76) at Chicago (68-70), 8:11 p.m. EDT
The Chicago White Sox know their chances of returning to the postseason are slim, but they don't want to give up yet.
They'll begin a two-game set against the last-place Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night before heading out on another difficult road trip.
Chicago (69-70) is in third place in the AL Central, trailing division leader Detroit by 7 1/2 games. Because the White Sox have six of their final nine against the Tigers, there is still a glimmer of hope.
They are feeling better about themselves after winning for the fifth time in six games Monday with a 5-1 victory over Boston. Mark Buehrle won for the first time since his perfect game against Tampa Bay on July 23 with seven sharp innings and Carlos Quentin hit a two-run homer.
"It gives you more hope," manager Ozzie Guillen told Chicago's official Web site. "Every time you win a game, you hope a little bit better. You hope a little bit more. In your mind, you're still competing. Like I say, you never know what's going to happen in the game."
Chicago won three of four from Boston as Mark Kotsay had a huge series, going 6 for 11 with two homers and six RBIs. Kotsay, acquired from the Red Sox on July 28 for Brian Anderson, entered the series with one homer and eight RBIs in 46 games.
White Sox rookie third baseman Gordon Beckham missed his second straight game with a sore side. He could return in this series.
The White Sox will start Carlos Torres (1-0, 3.86 ERA), who earned his first major league win in his third career start Thursday in a 5-0 victory over the Cubs. Torres allowed five hits, walked none and struck out six in seven innings.
It is unclear how the White Sox will use the rookie down the stretch. He posted a 6.75 ERA and did not receive decisions in his first two home starts against Tampa Bay and Cleveland.
"I just take it start by start, pitch by pitch, and see what happens after that," Torres said. "You never know what's going to happen. It's all out of your control."
Oakland (61-76) is starting an eight-game road trip. The Athletics are 4-3 against the White Sox this year, winning three of four on the road June 1-4.
Scott Hairston's grand slam helped Oakland win 5-2 over Seattle on Sunday. Hairston had eight hits in his previous 58 at-bats (.138).
"He's been struggling lately but the ball jumps off his bat," A's manager Bob Geren said. "He's getting a chance to play every day and he'll only keep getting better."
Brett Tomko (3-3, 4.40) will make his fifth start for Oakland after going 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA in the first four. He allowed six runs over 5 2-3 innings Thursday in a 7-4 loss to the Mariners.
The right-hander is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA against Chicago in four career appearances - one start. The start came June 25, 1998 with Cincinnati.
- White Sox 3, Athletics 11 - FINAL
OAKLAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Kennedy 3b 5 1 2 0 1 1 4 .286
R Davis cf 6 3 3 1 0 0 3 .303
R Sweeney rf 6 3 4 2 0 1 3 .283
S Hairston lf 6 0 2 2 0 1 6 .238
E Patterson lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .163
K Suzuki c 4 0 1 2 0 1 2 .270
J
Sep 8 10:57 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RYAN SWEENEY SCORED DARIC BARTON
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R SWEENEY ON FIRST, R DAVIS ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: OAKLAND 11
CHI WHITE SOX 3 TOP,9TH
DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: S HAIRSTON (.240, 2-FOR-5, 2 RBI)
Athletics 11, White Sox 3 Top 9, 0 OutsSep 8 10:47 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RAJAI DAVIS SCORED DARIC BARTON
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R DAVIS ON FIRST, A KENNEDY ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: OAKLAND 10
CHI WHITE SOX 3 TOP,7TH
DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: R SWEENEY (.282, 3-FOR-4, RBI)
Athletics 10, White Sox 3 Top 7, 0 OutsSep 8 10:08 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY PAUL KONERKO (26) TO CENTER WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 6TH OFF BRETT TOMKO.
CURRENT SCORE: OAKLAND 9, CHI WHITE SOX 3
DUE UP FOR CHI WHITE SOX: J DYE (.259, 0-FOR-2)
Athletics 9, White Sox 3 Bot 6, 0 OutsSep 8 9:53 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY KURT SUZUKI SCORED RAJAI DAVIS
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, K SUZUKI ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: OAKLAND 9
CHI WHITE SOX 2 TOP,6TH
DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: J CUST (.239, 1-FOR-3, HR, 3 RBI)
Athletics 9, White Sox 2 Top 6, 0 OutsSep 8 9:45 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY MARK KOTSAY (4) TO RIGHT WITH 2 OUT IN
THE 4TH OFF BRETT TOMKO SCORED A.J. PIERZYNSKI.
CURRENT SCORE: OAKLAND 8, CHI WHITE SOX 2
DUE UP FOR CHI WHITE SOX: C QUENTIN (.234, 0-FOR-1)
Athletics 8, White Sox 2 Bot 4, 0 OutsSep 8 9:19 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY SCOTT HAIRSTON SCORED RYAN SWEENEY
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, S HAIRSTON ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: OAKLAND 8
CHI WHITE SOX 0 TOP,4TH
DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: K SUZUKI (.270, 0-FOR-1, SF, RBI)
Athletics 8, White Sox 0 Top 4, 0 OutsSep 8 9:12 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY SCOTT HAIRSTON SCORED RYAN SWEENEY
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, S HAIRSTON ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: OAKLAND 7
CHI WHITE SOX 0 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: K SUZUKI (.271, 0-FOR-0, SF, RBI)
Athletics 7, White Sox 0 Top 2, 0 OutsSep 8 8:42 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RYAN SWEENEY SCORED RAJAI DAVIS
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R SWEENEY ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: OAKLAND 6
CHI WHITE SOX 0 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: S HAIRSTON (.234, 0-FOR-1)
Athletics 6, White Sox 0 Top 2, 0 OutsSep 8 8:40 PM - AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
OAKLAND 5 5 4 0
CHI WHITE SOX 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: OAK - BRETT TOMKO
CHA - D.J. CARRASCO
DUE UP FOR CHI WHITE SOX: S PODSEDNIK (.303, 5 HR, 43 RBI)
A RAMIREZ (.278, 15 HR, 63 RBI)
A PIERZYNSKI (.312, 13 HR, 42
Athletics 5, White Sox 0 Bot 1, 0 OutsSep 8 8:25 PM
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