The long faces say it all the Oakland A’s used to know something about losing streaks well the Chicago White Sox ran their losing string to 21 games just two games shy of tying the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies at 23 straight loses on Mon Aug 4, 2024 at the Oakland Coliseum (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Monday night the Oakland A’s (47-67) took on the Chicago White Sox (27-88) in game one of their three game series. The White Sox came into this game on a 20 game losing streak and the A’s handed them their 21st loss with a 5-1 win. Oakland will be looking to add to Chicago’s woes in game two Tuesday.

Game recap: Tyler Nevin sacrificed in the first inning getting this game underway with a Daz Cameron run for an early 1-0 lead. Oakland would hold the 1-0 lead going into the fourth inning. Chicago’s Andrew Benintendi singled Andrew Vaughn home to tie up this game 1-1 and it was a new ball game.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Oakland loaded the bases with one out. The A’s Max Schuemann took advantage of the opportunity hitting a hard single to left allowing two runners, JJ Bleday and Zach Gelof to both score taking a 3-1 lead.

Bleday had doubled and Gelof walked to get on base. Ky Bush had walked five runners so far in the game. He had also hit Darell Hernaiz for a base on ball in the fourth inning. Oakland had loaded the bases in the first inning finishing that inning with their first run.

After giving up the two runs in the fourth inning coupled with the five walks that was it for Chicago’s Bush. He finished pitching through four innings allowing two hits and three earned runs, five walks and three strikeouts. Justin Anderson would relieve him on the mound. He came in with a 5.12 ERA.

Anderson went on to walk two runners back to back. With JJ Bleday and Tyler Nevin on base Oakland had another scoring opportunity but with two outs, Zach Gelof struck out swinging and it was on to the top of the sixth inning with Oakland continuing to lead 3-1.

The top of the sixth inning was a one two three inning for JP Sears. The White Sox had a pitching change to start the bottom of the sixth inning putting Chad Kuhl on the mound. It was a tough inning for Kuhl giving up a Lawrence Butler solo home run, Butler’s 13th of the season giving Oakland a 4-1 lead. The White Sox have not won a single game this year when trailing after the sixth inning so this was troublesome for Chicago.

The top of the seventh inning was another one two three inning for JP Sears as this game reached the seventh inning stretch. JP Sears had sizzled finishing seven innings with three hits, one run, one walk and five strikeouts. Chicago’s Jared Shuster would relieve Kuhl in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Austin Adams took over pitching duties to start the eighth inning for Oakland. The White Sox did hit a double in the inning, a Miguel Vargas shot but one of the huge problems for Chicago this year is bringing runners home.

Adams had two strikeouts in the eighth inning striking out Lenyn Sosa for the third out. Oakland extended their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. Zach Gelof scored from third adding another run to their tally 5-1.

Oakland was three outs away from handing the White Sox their 21st straight loss. The A’s Tyler Ferguson closed this game out with a one, two, three, inning and the victory was Oakland’s.

Game notes: After losing their last series against the Los Angeles Dodgers this past weekend, the A’s took on the White Sox Monday night to start a three game series at the Oakland Coliseum. The White Sox have endured a disastrous season having extended their losing streak to 21 games on Monday.

The A’s took advantage of the White Sox struggles and take game one with a four run 5-1 win at the Coliseum. A’s starting pitcher JP Sears got the win pitching seven innings seven innings allowing three hits and one run. Meanwhile White Sox starter Ky Bush pitched four innings, allowed two hits and three runs in the loss.

Tuesday the A’s will go into game two of this series. They will be eyeing a second win and handing Chicago loss #2 in a row. The A’s will be counting on Ross Stripling to handle the White Sox at the plate. He has a 2-10, 5.64 ERA record. The White Sox will send Jonathan Cannon to the mound with a 1-5 win/loss record and a 4.11 ERA with a 6:40pm PT first pitch.