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A's use late blitz to get past White Sox

Apr 14, 2011 - 2:13 AM Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Daric Barton capped a three-run 10th inning with a two-run single, as the Oakland Athletics rallied past the Chicago White Sox, 7-4, in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Coco Crisp had an RBI single in the 10th for the A's, who scored three times in the ninth to tie the game. Hideki Matsui hit a solo homer for Oakland, which got two runs batted in from Cliff Pennington.

Brett Anderson went 5 2/3 innings in the start for the Athletics, allowing three runs -- two earned -- on nine hits. Grant Balfour (1-1) pitched a perfect ninth to pick up the win for Oakland, which went 5-4 on a nine-game road trip.

Brent Morel, Ramon Castro and Gordon Beckham each drove in a run for the White Sox, who fell to 4-3 on a 10-game homestand.

John Danks was solid over eight innings for Chicago, giving up just one run on five hits. Matt Thornton (0-2) allowed three runs on three hits over one inning of work to suffer the loss. He also suffered his fourth blown save of the season.

All three games in this series went 10 innings.

Holding a 4-1 lead, Chicago sent Chris Sale to the mound in the ninth in an attempt to preserve Danks' solid outing. Conor Jackson doubled and Josh Willingham singled to quickly make it a two-run game. Matsui also singled to force Jesse Crain to come in from the bullpen.

Crain walked pinch-hitter Barton to load the bases. Thornton came into the game after Kurt Suzuki went down swinging. Pinch-hitter Ryan Sweeney struck out for the second out, but Pennington laced a two-run single to center to make it 4-4.

"With Thornton on the mound throwing 97 miles an hour," Pennington said, "I was just looking for a fastball I could hit."

Oakland added three more runs in the 10th to claim victory. Jackson and Willingham worked one-out walks. Crisp plated Jackson with a base hit to center. Crisp then stole second to put men on second and third. Barton followed with a two-run single to right for a 7-4 margin.

Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless home 10th for his fifth save of the season.

"When you have a bad bullpen, that's what happens," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "That's what happens. That's the third time it happened. I wish I knew who I can bring in the ninth. I mean, now we'll try everyone in one inning. No more excuses."

Matsui broke a scoreless tie in the fourth with a solo homer to right-center field.

Chicago tied the game in the fifth. Juan Pierre reached first on Anderson's fielding error and scored on Beckham's double to left-center field.

The White Sox added two more runs in the sixth for a 3-1 lead. Carlos Quentin was hit by a pitch and Alex Rios doubled to left. Two batters later, Quentin crossed the plate when Castro grounded into a fielder's choice. Morel's squeeze bunt scored Rios.

Chicago tacked on a run in the eighth for a three-run cushion. Brad Ziegler walked Rios, who stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Morel hit a dribbler to third. Kevin Kouzmanoff failed to play the ball cleanly, and his throw to first was way off the mark. Rios scored on the play for a 4-1 lead.

Game Notes

The White Sox have led in all 12 of their games this season...Oakland was 5-4 against the White Sox last season...Danks had seven strikeouts...Pierre went 3-for-4 for Chicago, which left 10 men on base.