It’s always an interesting game when the White Sox head to Oakland. Today was no different, but the White Sox found themselves on the winning end of things.
Jimmy Lambert was excellent on the mound, working around some early shakiness to really settle in during the middle innings. He would complete five innings of one-run baseball before turning things over to the bullpen. The duo of Garrett Crochet and Ryan Tepera would keep the A’s off the board through the seventh. Trouble struck in the eighth when Ryan Burr took over with a 6-1 lead; however, Craig Kimbrel and Liam Hendriks would be able to take care of the A’s and limit the damage for the victory.
On the offense, the White Sox were incredibly patient all night, working counts and forcing the A’s to make mistakes in the zone. Yasmani Grandal put the first run on the board with an RBI walk, while Gavin Sheets, Cesar Hernandez, and Brian Goodwin added hits later in the game to give the White Sox plenty of cushion.
The weird part of the night, you ask? Eloy Jimenez would leave the game early with a right knee contusion. He was hit on a foul line drive off the bat of Andrew Vaughn that made its way into the Sox dugout. He is listed as day-to-day but was able to play for a few innings after the initial injury. Hopefully, this won’t be too long of a rest for Jimenez.
With the win, the White Sox win their 80th game of the season and lower their magic number to 15.
W: Jimmy Lambert (1-1) | L: A.J. Puk (0-3) | S: Liam Hendriks (33)
Savant Leaders
Notable Performances
Jimmy Lambert: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 4 Swinging Strikes
With Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito on the shelf, Jimmy Lambert became an important part of the White Sox rotation against a difficult opponent in the Oakland Athletics. After struggling with his command early in the game, Lambert settled in and gave the White Sox five quality innings. The White Sox are going to need these sorts of performances from guys like Jimmy Lambert moving forward through September.
Yasmani Grandal: 1-for-3, 2 BB, K, RBI, R
Grandal has come back with a vengeance since missing a few months due to injury. The backstop started the evening by reaching base three times and seeing 18 pitches across two plate appearances that ended in walks. This lineup is a lot stronger when guys like Grandal are in the lineup and working their at-bats.
Luis Robert/Yoan Moncada: 5-for-11, 2 R, K
Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada paced the offense at the top of the lineup all night long. Robert had two hits while Yoan Moncada had three, and both players worked great at-bats all evening long.
Leury Garcia: 3-for-4
Garcia had himself a nice night at the bottom of the lineup, knocking three hits and raising his average to .261 in the process. Garcia should continue to see pretty regular at-bats throughout the rest of the month.
Cesar Hernandez: 2-for-5, 2 RBI
Hernandez hit the ball hard all night long and really could’ve had four hits when it was all said and done. However, I’m sure Hernandez will gladly take his two hits, as he has been scuffling quite a bit recently.
Next Game
The White Sox and A’s will continue their West Coast series tomorrow evening, as Dallas Keuchel looks to right the ship on the mound after the self-described worst three-game stretch of his career. He will go up against former Sox’ prospect Frankie Montas.
The game will begin at 8:40 PM CT on NBC Sports Chicago.
