White Sox Score 5 In 7th To Beat A's, 7-6
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Chicago White Sox are getting quite comfortable putting together late comebacks. That's four and counting for manager Robin Ventura's ballclub so far.
Avisail Garcia doubled in two runs to cap a five-run seventh inning and Chicago rallied to beat the stumbling Oakland Athletics, 7-6, on Friday night.
Adam LaRoche drove in three runs for the White Sox, who are finally coming out of their early season scoring slump and have won seven of their last 10 games — including three straight on the road.
"You look at the good teams in the past, Kansas City and the Giants, those guys win late and they rally as a team," said leadoff hitter Adam Eaton, who had two hits and scored twice. "That's what brings teams together. It doesn't matter if we're down 9-0, 10-0 ... if we put quality at-bats together, anything can happen."
It nearly got away from the White Sox in the ninth.
Oakland missed a chance to tie the game when Stephen Vogt was thrown out trying to score from first on Coco Crisp's two-out double in the ninth. Vogt rounded third and was caught in a rundown before being tagged out by White Sox catcher Geovany Soto.
"A nice relay and you get the out when you need it," Ventura said. "Better to do that than throw one away."
Scott Carroll (1-1) pitched two innings to pick up the win. Zach Duke got the last four outs for his first save since 2011.
Josh Reddick had three RBIs for Oakland and Josh Phegley hit his first home run of the season for Oakland. The A's fell to a major league-worst 13-24 despite a strong outing from starting pitcher Jesse Hahn.
"Every day it gets harder," Vogt said. "Hahn did an outstanding job ... and to throw it away, it hurts."
Chicago won despite giving up seven walks — two shy of its season high. Four of the walks turned into runs for Oakland.
The White Sox trailed 6-2 before batting around in the seventh.
A one-out fielding error by A's third baseman Brett Lawrie fueled the outburst. Oakland has committed at least one error in 12 consecutive games and leads the majors with 37 errors this season.
Melky Cabrera had an RBI single two batters before LaRoche hit a two-run double with the bases against Francisco Abad (0-2) to make it 6-5. Garcia followed with two-run double to left-center Evan Scribner to put Chicago ahead.
Reddick had put the A's ahead with a bases-loaded double in the fourth. The A's were mired in an 0-for-21 slump with runners in scoring position before Reddick's hit off White Sox starter Carlos Rodon.
Rodon allowed five hits and five runs in four-plus innings. The Chicago left-hander walked five with five strikeouts.
Eric Sogard added an RBI single in the fifth and Billy Butler singled in a run in the sixth for Oakland, but the A's bullpen couldn't make it hold up.
Chicago's first four batters reached base off Oakland starter Jesse Hahn in the first. LaRoche drew a bases-loaded walk and Connor Gillaspie added an RBI single to make it 2-0.
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: INF Carlos Sanchez went 1 for 4 after being called up from Triple-A Charlotte before the game. He took the roster spot left vacant when 2B Micah Johnson was optioned to Charlotte a day earlier.
Athletics: Closer Sean Doolittle is continuing his rehab and is scheduled to pitch for Single-A Stockton on Sunday. ... INF Ben Zobrist took batting practice before the game and could begin a rehab assignment soon. ... LHP Sean Nolin was activated from the disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Nashville.
UP NEXT
White Sox: LHP John Danks (1-3) pitches the middle game of the series in search of his first road win of the season.
Athletics: RHP Jesse Chavez (1-3) has given up 11 runs this season, 10 coming in the third through fifth innings.
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