Oakland A’s reliever Mason Miller (right) gets a hug from catcher Kyle McCann (left) after retiring the Chicago White Sox in the top of the ninth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Aug 7, 2024 (AP News photo)

Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Oakland, California

Chicago White Sox 2 (28-89)

Oakland Athletics 3 (48-68)

Win: T.J. McFarland (2-1)

Loss: Touki Toussaint (0-2)

Save: Mason Miller (16)

Time: 2:14

Attendance: 6,964

By Stephen Ruderman

OAKLAND–We weren’t going to see history today at the Coliseum, but it was still a beautiful day for a baseball game, and the Oakland A’s rewarded the faithful who showed up with a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox to take the series in a Wednesday matinee.

Tuesday night, the A’s suffered the misfortune of being the team that the White Sox beat to snap their historic 21-game losing streak. Wednesday, the A’s still had a chance to take the series behind their young right-hander, Joey Estes.

Estes started the afternoon inning with a 1-2-3 top of the first inning. Davis Martin made the start for White Sox, and he also pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the first.

Andrew Vaughn doubled to right field to start the top of the second and advanced to third base on an error. That brought up Andrew Benintendi, who hit a home run to right-center to give the White Sox a 2-0 lead.

The A’s had a rally for free going against Martin in the bottom of the second. However, Martin struck out the side, and the A’s were unable to come through.

Both pitchers threw 1-2-3 innings in the third. Estes had to deal with a pair of two-out singles in the top of the fourth, but Nicky Lopez grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning. Martin then threw another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth.

Both pitchers pitched scoreless innings in the fifth, and Estes was done after five innings. Estes was a bit shaky, as he gave up six hits, but he limited the damage to two runs.

Will Klein pitched a 1-2-3 top of the sixth for Oakland, and Martin did the same for Chicago in the bottom of the sixth to cap off his afternoon. Martin went six shutout innings, giving up just a pair of hits and striking out four. The fact that he was done after six innings and 82 pitches was a bit surprising, but hey, I’m not the manager.

The A’s were trailing 2-0 going to the seventh, and they were nine offensive outs away from losing two-straight to a team that had just snapped a 21-game losing streak. T.J. McFarland pitched a scoreless top of the seventh for Oakland, and when Touku Toussaint came in for the White Sox in the bottom of the seventh, the A’s finally pounced.

Brent Rooker lined a base-hit to left to lead off the inning, and Abraham Toro walked with one out. That brought up Armando Alvarez, who flipped a base-hit to left. Rooker scored, and the A’s were on the board. Zack Gelof then flipped a base-hit to left, and Toro scored to tie the game. After a fielder’s choice moved the runners to second and third, Lawrence Butler gave the A’s the lead with a sacrifice fly to left.

Tyler Ferguson came in for the A’s in the top of the eighth, and he pitched a 1-2-3 shutdown inning. John Brebbia then pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth.

Mason Miller, who last pitched on July 22 against the Houston Astros before breaking his left pinkie finger, was activated off the 15-Day Injured List prior to today’s game, and he came in for the top of the ninth to try and notch down the save. Miller didn’t miss a beat, and he threw a 1-2-3 inning to close it out

“I’m just excited to be back and part of the group,” said Miller, who didn’t pitch in a rehab assignment and convinced the A’s he was ready to go after throwing live batting practice on Monday. “

T.J. McFarland got the win; Touki Toussaint took the loss; and Mason Miller got the save.

The A’s improve to 48-68, and they will head north of the border to play the Toronto Blue Jays for three this weekend. After a day off Thursday, the two teams will kick off a three game series Friday night. Mitch Spence (7-7, 4.40 ERA) will make the start for Oakland, and the Blue Jays have yet to announce who they will go with.

First pitch will be at 7:07 p.m. in Toronto, 4:07 p.m. back home in Oakland.