Sale, Semien lead White Sox over A's

Published February 05, 2015

Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Sale and Marcus Semien gave the Chicago White Sox another one-run win over the Oakland Athletics.

Sale threw eight masterful innings and Semien homered to give the White Sox a 1-0 win over the A's on Thursday in the finale of a four-game series.

Semien's leadoff blast to left field in the sixth inning was one of just four hits given up by Oakland starter Scott Kazmir in a complete-game loss.

Sale (12-3) struck out nine, walked two and gave up just two hits and Chicago won three out of four against the AL wild card-leading A's, all by one run.

"Sometimes it looks like he's maxing out. (But) today I thought he had great rhythm," said White Sox manager Robin Ventura. "(He was) throwing pitches when he wanted to, getting out of counts. He was tough.

"When he gets like that, he has the ability to throw a game like today."

Jake Petricka pitched out of trouble in the ninth inning to preserve the win and pick up his 13th save. He gave up a leadoff single to Sam Fuld, then got Josh Donaldson to ground into a double play. After he walked Adam Dunn, he struck out Derek Norris to end the game.

Kazmir (14-8) struck out seven and walked one in his second complete game of the season, but the A's fell to 3-11 in their last 14 games as they cling to a wild-card spot.

"It's just a tough stretch," said Kazmir. "It's one of those ones where we really haven't had anything go our way. We're fighting for every run, every win. ... We're not pressing. We just stay positive."

Sale retired 17 straight batters between singles by Jed Lowrie in the second and eighth innings. He walked Alberto Callaspo with two outs in the eighth but retired Coco Crisp to escape the jam.

Game Notes

It was Semien's fourth homer of the season ... The A's will finish their seven-game road trip against division rival Seattle starting Friday ... The White Sox will complete a seven-game homestand against Minnesota beginning Friday.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/sale-semien-lead-white-sox-over-as