We’ll take that win
The Green & Gold continued their solid start to the spring as our A’s defeated the Chicago White Sox 5-4 in an exciting tune up for the fast-approaching regular season.
The A’s got the scoring going early today. After the hot-hitting Lawrence Butler opened the game with a single, #2 batter Jacob Wilson stepped into the box and blasted his first home run of the spring, giving the A’s the first lead today.
On the bump for the good guys was right-hander Joey Estes. Making his second appearance of the spring as he continues to vie for a rotation job, Estes made just two mistakes in three innings of work. Both of those pitches ended up on the other side of the fence as Chicago hit two home runs in the first inning to wipe away the early lead. From there however Estes locked in, allowing just one more hit the rest of his afternoon.
With the game all tied up again the team then turned to righty reliever Tyler Ferguson. It wasn’t his best day on the mound as Chicago racked up three hits and cashed in a pair of runs to give them their first lead of the day. Ferguson has now pitched three innings and given up three runs so far this spring.
From there the team turned to righty Mitch Spence, who provided the team with 2 2⁄3 innings while allowing just two hits. He still hasn’t allowed a run so far this spring and continues to look likely to get a rotation spot come Opening Day.
The A’s began coming back in the fifth with a little help from the White Sox’s pitching. Two walks and a HBP loaded the bases and an RBI groundout cut into the Chicago lead. They then took the lead a couple innings later after four hits and another HBP, giving the Athletics the lead again. Three more innings from the bullpen helped seal this game as the Green & Gold came out on top in this spring training matchup.
The A’s are now 6-3-1 so far this spring. They’ll go for win #7 tomorrow as they head over to the Texas Rangers facility for another afternoon contest. Scheduled for the A’s is righty rookie JT Ginn, who is set to make his third appearance of the spring. He’ll be opposed by Rangers righty Dane Dunning, an arm that we should expect to see plenty of this coming season.