The Sports Xchange
Jun 23, 2017
CHICAGO -- Khris Davis hit his 19th home run of the season and Jharel Cotton pitched five shutout innings as the Oakland Athletics ended their four-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.
Cotton (5-7) won his first night game of 2017, going five innings while allowing no runs and scattering three hits. He left the game after allowing a single to start the sixth because of a blister on his right thumb.
Matt Joyce also hit a home run for the A's (32-42), who remained undefeated against Mike Pelfrey (3-6). Pelfrey dropped to 0-5 career against Oakland. He threw 106 pitches in 4 2/3 innings.
Oakland's bullpen threw four shutout innings, but closer Santiago Casilla made it interesting in the ninth when he allowed back-to-back singles to Melky Cabrera and Jose Abreu to start the inning before getting Avisail Garcia to pop out, Todd Frazier to hit into a fielder's choice and Matt Davidson to fly out to deep center field to end the game. Casilla posted his 12th save of the season.
Davidson had two hits for the White Sox (32-40), who have lost four of five.
Davis took the first pitch he saw from Pelfrey in the top of the first inning deep over the center-field fence. The two-run, 429-foot shot came with two outs and followed a four-pitch walk to Jed Lowrie.
Joyce led off the top of the fifth with his ninth home run of the season, a solo shot to right-center field. The 412-foot homer came on a full count to extend the A's lead to 3-0.
White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson and manager Rick Renteria were ejected by home plate umpire Jim Wolf in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Anderson was tagged out by A's catcher Bruce Maxwell on a tapper that he thought was foul. It was Anderson's first career ejection, and it came on his 24th birthday. Renteria came out to argue Anderson's ejection and he was tossed for the third time this season and second time in a week.
NOTES: A's shortstop Chad Pinder left the game after the fifth inning with a strained left hamstring. ... RHP Mike Pelfrey had not given up a home run since May 26 -- he had gone five appearances and 21 innings without allowing a long ball. ... A's DH Khris Davis' home run was only his third in June after hitting 10 in April and six in May, but he entered Friday night hitting .280 in the month compared with a .186 average in May. ... The White Sox will be retiring Mark Buehrle's No. 56 before Saturday afternoon's game.