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A's try for another win in Chicago

Jun 11, 2011 - 3:18 PM (Sports Network) - With their unsightly 10-game losing streak now behind them, the Oakland Athletics now set their sights on back-to-back wins for the first time since late May as they challenge the Chicago White Sox in the third of a four-game set at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Athletics, who fired manager Bob Geren and named Bob Melvin as his replacement on an interim basis on Thursday, waited until the top of the ninth inning to make their charge as they tallied four runs in the frame to capture the 7-5 victory last night. Down by a run with the bases loaded, Scott Sizemore stepped up and laced a base-clearing, two-out double to give Melvin his first win as the A's skipper.

"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.

Cliff Pennington added three hits for the visitors, including a pair of doubles, while Grant Balfour was the surprise winner for the A's as he pitched a perfect eighth and Andrew Bailey came on in the bottom of the ninth to close it out for his first save of the season.

Oakland starter Graham Godfrey stuck around for just 4 1/3 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits and a pair of walks, while striking out just two.

Chicago starter Edwin Jackson appeared to be on his way to the victory after giving up just two runs on eight hits over six innings, but the bullpen failed to hold up his effort. Sergio Santos was tagged with the loss as he permitted four runs on just two hits and three walks in only two-thirds of an inning.

Paul Konerko, who is now hitting .321, logged his 16th home run of the season for Chicago and A.J. Pierzynski picked up three hits and a run scored in the setback. Carlos Quentin recorded a pair of hits and two runs scored as well.

After starting the season a dismal 0-8, Chicago hurler John Danks is shooting for his second straight victory as he takes the hill for the Sox tonight at home.

The left-hander, who failed to factor into an earlier appearance versus Oakland this year but is an impressive 4-1 in his career against the club, worked his way through 7 1/3 innings on Monday, permitting just a single run on seven hits and a walk, while striking out six in the 3-1 victory over Seattle at home.

Danks, who is now five games under .500 for his career (47-52) due to the rough start, has already issued 26 walks this season, against 52 strikeouts.

As for the A's, they plan on handing the ball to lefty Gio Gonzalez even though he has yet to come out on top against the Sox in his career (0-3, 6.45 ERA). The Florida native has dropped his last two outings, the most recent of those coming earlier this week when he was tagged for four runs on nine hits over seven innings in a 4-2 setback at Baltimore.

Gonzalez has failed to earn a win in his last four games, with three of those landing in the loss column for Oakland. Despite now showing just a 5-4 record, Gonzalez still has one of the better ERAs of any starter in the AL at 2.62.

Oakland hitters have watched their collective batting average drop to just .240 through 65 games, second-lowest in the American League entering the weekend. With a league-low 35 home runs it shouldn't be a shock that the A's also have one of the lowest slugging percentages as well at .349.

However, if not for a team ERA of 3.35 which is tied for the best mark in the AL, things could certainly be much worse for the A's at this stage.

Counting against the Chicago pitching staff right now is the fact that they are third from the bottom in opponent batting average, allowing hitters to generate a .261 average through 66 games.