It was deja vu all over again for the Oakland A’s in their 2016 season opener, as they dropped yet another one-run game, this time 4-3 to the Chicago White Sox. But when he came back with another curve, Frazier went down and got it and drove a three-run homer over the wall in left-center to erase Oakland’s 1-0 lead. Catch the game on CSN Chicago, as well as WLS 890AM on the radio.
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Carlos Rodon will draw his first start of the season for the WHite Sox.
Build your own custom daily newsletter with updates on your favorite teams, sent directly to your inbox. Jed Lowrie then changed the complexion of the game with a two-run single to cut the Sox’s lead in half. Gray, who has won 14 games in consecutive seasons, yielded 12 runs (11 earned) and 23 hits while striking out 11 in 17 2/3 innings during four starts in the spring. With two on and two outs, Frazier crushed Bassitt’s 0-2 curveball into the left-field seats.
“Obviously, if he’s not pitching, it was fairly severe”, Bob Melvin said. Adam Eaton followed with a triple over the head of Billy Burns (who didn’t read the ball well) for the season’s first run.
General manager Rick Hahn said Monday the front office has also been on edge waiting to see if a winning team can unfold from new additions such as Frazier, Rollins, Brett Lawrie and Austin Jackson, who had a sixth-inning RBI single. He’s been limited because of a shoulder injury that put him on the disabled list to start the season, “I need to be able to do all of it, throw, swing, all of it”, Sogard said of his rehab.
With two outs, Melky Cabrera hit a bouncer up the middle that Marcus Semien made a nice play to get, but he threw high to first and the throw went off Mark Canha’s glove.
Sonny Gray was slated to take the hill tonight against the Chicago White Sox, but food poisoning will cause the Athletics’ ace to sit out tonight. “We still realize this was going to be a process, one which hopefully here in the coming months is coming to an end as we take that next step”.
“I like our team”, Melvin said.
David Robertson would come on for the visitors in the bottom half and make quick work of the top third of the Oakland lineup for his second save in as amny nights. The second baseman’s decision to go for a force at second base in the fifth inning led to the A’s not getting an out on the play, and the White Sox burned them thanks to that extra out.
“Just throwing two-seamers in to righties, I don’t know if I’ve ever done that”, Sale said.
A gastrointestinal issue last June caused him to miss roughly a week and cost him an opportunity to pitch in the All-Star Game.
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“Being home, that’s when it’s like, ‘Man, the season’s really here, ‘” pitcher Chris Bassitt said.
