The American League West-leading Oakland Athletics shoot for a sixth straight win Tuesday and a series victory over the Chicago White Sox in the continuation of a three-game set.
Oakland made it five wins in a row in Monday's 5-4 win, as Josh Donaldson hit a two-run homer to snap a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning and starting pitcher Jesse Chavez was sharp on the hill.
Chavez struck out seven batters and walked two in eight innings of work. He allowed two runs and five hits.
"It's what he's been doing all year for us, basically," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "He had a great cutter to both sides of the plate, slows them down with the curveball, had a good changeup at times tonight. I tried to get him all the way through it, and obviously that didn't happen, but, man, eight strong -- again, it seems like he's been consistent as his numbers are."
The A's are 16-2 when scoring first, which is the best record in the American League, and hope Drew Pomeranz can follow Chavez's gem Tuesday.
Pomeranz pitched well in his first start of the season the last time out and allowed just two hits over five shutout innings of a 2-0 win against Seattle on Wednesday. He is 2-1 with a 1.45 ERA in 10 games (1 start) this season.
The left-hander has never faced the White Sox.
Chicago, meanwhile, has lost three in a row after winning five of six games.
White Sox hurler John Danks was saddled with the loss and gave up Donaldson's big two-run blast in the fifth inning. Danks was reached for three runs and six hits in six innings to fall to 3-3.
"The thing I'm fighting the most now is pitch selection to Donaldson on that homer," Danks said. "Obviously, don't want to fall behind 2-0, but tried to throw a fastball hoping he'd roll over on it but didn't quite get it out there. That's a good hitter, did what he was supposed to do."
The White Sox put together a three-run rally in the ninth. Jose Abreu hit his major league-leading 14th home run, Alexei Ramirez added an RBI single and Dayan Viciedo scored on Paul Konerko's sacrifice fly. Tyler Flowers and Leury Garcia struck out to end the game.
White Sox starting pitcher Scott Carroll is pegged to start opposite of Pomeranz and has a 1-2 record in three starts to go along with a 3.63 ERA.
"They're been swinging it well," Carroll said of the A's. "They're definitely grinders, and they're going to make you work, but my key is to just throw strikes and just let my defense work behind me. Just got to compete and give my team the best chance to win."
The White Sox and Athletics are meeting for the first time this season. Oakland took five of the seven matchups a season ago, including a three-game sweep by the bay from May 31-June 2.
Chicago is 19-42 in Oakland since 2000.
[SportsNetwork.com]
