Athletics 7 - 5 White Sox
Final
  for this game

A's rally in ninth to top White Sox

Jun 11, 2011 - 5:28 AM

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Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - The Oakland Athletics' 7-5 comeback win over the Chicago White Sox in the second test of a four-game set was a huge weight off the shoulders of interim manager Bob Melvin and his club.

Down by one with the bases loaded in the ninth, Scott Sizemore ripped a base- clearing, two-out double to help erase Oakland's 10-game losing streak and give Melvin his first win since replacing manager Bob Geren, who was fired on Thursday.

"You lose how many in a row that we did, yet there was still that fight. During streaks like that, you go down easy at the end. And that just wasn't the case. That's always the sign that you'll going to come out of it," Melvin said.

Chicago closer Sergio Santos (2-3) came into the game in the ninth with a two- run lead and got two quick outs before losing his control. He ended up walking three batters, hitting a batter and yielding two hits for four runs in less than an inning.

"(Santos) just lost it. He tried to be too aggressive," said Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen.

Up 5-3, Santos was cruising after fanning Cliff Pennington to strike out and forcing a Conor Jackson flyout. However, he lost his ability to find the strike zone, walking Josh Willingham, who advanced to second on a defensive indifference and scored on Hideki Matsui's single to make it a 5-4 contest.

The closer then walked Daric Barton and plunked Kurt Suzuki to load the bases. Sizemore, who finished 3-for-4 at the plate, ripped a double into the left- center gap that sent all three runners home for a 7-5 lead.

Andrew Bailey came in during the bottom of the ninth to shut out the White Sox and hand them their second loss in five games. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning to get his first save of the season while Grant Balfour (4-1) got the surprising win after throwing a perfect eighth inning.

During Oakland's first turn at the plate, Pennington had a one-out double and moved to third on Ryan Sweeney's groundout before scoring off of Willingham's single through the left side.

However, Chicago answered back during the home half with a Paul Konerko two- run homer off of rookie starter Graham Godfrey. The starter was called up from Triple-A Sacramento before the game for his first major league appearance, which was less than memorable as he allowed five runs on nine hits over 4 1/3 innings.

The A's knotted it up at two apiece in the third after Jemile Weeks ripped a leadoff triple and crossed home on Pennington's infield single.

The White Sox used a three-run fifth to take control of the game. Alexei Ramirez lead off with a double and scored on Carlos Quentin's single.

Later in the inning with runners on second and third, Alex Rios grounded to short but not before plating a run and then Adam Dunn singled in A.J. Pierzynski for a 5-2 lead.

The A's cut into the deficit in the seventh when Coco Crisp singled, moved to third on Pennington's double and scored on Jackson's grounder to second.

Game Notes

The A's made several roster moves before the game: optioned pitcher Bobby Cramer and third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff was outrighted to Sacramento...Oakland Athletics minor leaguers David Mota and Wilfrido Sosa have been suspended 25 games each for violations of baseball's drug prevention and treatment program...The season series is tied at four games apiece...Oakland was 5-for-17 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base...Chicago starter Edwin Jackson was lined up to win the game after pitching six innings and yielding two runs on eight hits.






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