Oakland A’s starter Paul Blackburn deals in the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guarantee Rate Field in Chicago on Sat Jul 30, 2022 (AP News photo)

Ninth Inning Letdown Gives Chicago a Walk Off Win Over A’s 3-2

By Barbara Mason

Friday night the Oakland A’s (39-64) won game one in their series with the Chicago White Sox (50-50) 7-3. Home runs came raining down for Oakland in the first game of the series and they kept on coming in game two.

Saturday game recap: In the first inning Sean Murphy had a solo home run and Seth Brown had another in the third inning. Saturday Brown had two home runs and did not disappoint in game two. Oakland held the 2-0 lead into the seventh inning.

The White Sox tied up this game in the seventh off a Gavin Sheets home run with Andrew Vaughn aboard. The 2-2 score would persist into the ninth inning.

Oakland played a very good baseball game that ended on a very sour note in the bottom of the ninth. Closer Zach Jackson threw a wild pitch with Adam Engel on third and that was the ball game in a Chicago walk off 3-2.

It was a good ball game for Paul Blackburn who went five innings giving up five hits, with four strikeouts and no runs. The A’s had eight hits and Chicago had nine which was the difference maker. It was a tough decision for the A’s after playing so well.

Seth Brown continued on the same pace that we have seen since the All-Star game. He is hitting .440 since that game, an amazing stat. Seven A’s had hits in this game and really did play well enough to come away with a win. It was the letdown in the ninth inning that was the difference.

The rubber game will be played tomorrow at 11:10 AM PT. Adam Oller (1-3, 8.07) will take the mound for the A’s. Oakland offense will be facing Dylan Cease who comes in with a 10-4 win loss record and an 2.03 ERA.