AP: A's Beat White Sox 7-4 To Move Melvin Closer To Milestone
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Sonny Gray pitched six mostly sharp innings to beat Chicago for the second time in two weeks and the Oakland Athletics defeated the White Sox 7-4 on Wednesday.
Jed Lowrie added three hits and two RBIs, Bruce Maxwell doubled in two runs and Jaycob Brugman homered to help the A's to their second straight home win following eight consecutive losses at the Coliseum.
The win was manager Bob Melvin's 499th with the A's and the 992nd of his career.
Gray (4-4) surrendered a two-run home run to Matt Davidson in the fifth, the only blemish during an otherwise strong outing. Gray gave up two runs on three hits with five strikeouts, and has allowed four runs over his last 21 innings - a 1.71 ERA.
Todd Frazier also homered for the White Sox, a two-run blast off reliever Sean Doolittle in the ninth.
Lowrie singled in the first and in the third before breaking the game open with a two-run single in the fourth. It's Lowrie's eighth three-hit game of the season.
Davidson's homer was his 18th.
White Sox starter Mike Pelfrey (3-7) retired 10 batters and allowed four runs to fall to 0-6 in six career starts in Oakland. It's the 10th time in 14 starts that the right-hander has pitched five innings or fewer.
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: 2B Tyler Saladino is making progress in his recovery from back spasms and the team is encouraged by his stats (2-for-5, walk) through the first two games of his rehab assignment. CF Leury Garcia (sprained finger) is continuing his rehab in Arizona.
Athletics: Catcher Josh Phegley was placed on the paternity list. He and his wife welcomed a baby daughter at 12:56 a.m. 3B Ryon Healy (back spasms) sat out his third consecutive game, although manager Bob Melvin indicated Healy could return soon. SS Marcus Semien (fractured scaphoid bone) remains on track to come off the DL and join the big league club in Seattle this weekend.
UP NEXT
White Sox: Following an off day Thursday, Derek Holland (5-8, 4.52) pitches the opener of a three-game series in Colorado on Friday. It will be the left-hander's first regular-season appearance against the Rockies.
Athletics: RHP Paul Blackburn (0-0, 0.00) makes the second start of his career in Seattle on Thursday. Blackburn pitched six shutout innings against the Braves in his major league debut July 1.
