White Sox drop series finale vs. Oakland; tough road trip awaits

Andrew Vaughn

It wasn't so long ago when everyone was talking about how the White Sox own left-handed starting pitchers. But you don't hear that narrative so much anymore.

Oakland lefty Cole Irvin didn't exactly shut down the Sox on Thursday afternoon, but he did enough to pick up the victory as the Athletics salvaged the final game of a four-game series, beating the South Siders, 5-4.

Irvin went six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. The Sox let him off the hook twice, stranding the bases loaded in both the first inning and the third inning.

Andrew Vaughn was in the middle of the action, both for good and for bad in this game. First for the good, his two-run homer in the fifth inning gave the Sox a 3-2 lead. It was Vaughn's 15th home run of the year in what has become a very respectable rookie season.

Unfortunately, Matt Chapman homered off Dylan Cease to tie the game at 3 in the sixth, and a Vaughn defensive misplay in the seventh ended up costing the Sox two runs.

In fairness to Vaughn, he's been playing outfield for most of the season. On Thursday, he started at first base to give Jose Abreu a day as a DH, and Vaughn's inexperience at the position showed.

Elvis Andrus hit a grounder to the right side of the infield to start the top of the seventh. Vaughn ranged far to his right, well away from the bag, to field the grounder. He then rushed his throw to pitcher Michael Kopech, who was racing over to cover first. The toss was errant and eluded Kopech, and Andrus reached safely.

The thing about this play ... the ball was far enough to Vaughn's right that if he had let it go, second baseman Cesar Hernandez would have made the play. The correct thing for Vaughn to do there was just go to first and wait for Hernandez to field and throw. Instead, he made a misplay. Learning experience for the rookie.

Kopech (3-2) got the next two batters out, but ultimately could not pitch over the mistake. He hung a slider to Matt Olson, who hit his 31st homer of the season to give Oakland a 5-3 lead. 

The Sox got one run back in the ninth, but Eloy Jimenez lined out to center field with the tying run on second to end the game.

The Sox are 71-51. They own a 11.5-game lead in the AL Central.

Next up, perhaps the toughest road trip of the season: three in Tampa Bay and four in Toronto.

One of the big criticisms of the Sox this season has been their inability to beat good teams. I've made that criticism myself, in fact, and the numbers say the Sox are 20-25 against teams above .500 in 2021.

But when you look a little deeper, the real issue here is the Sox's inability to beat good teams on the road. At home, the Sox have more than held their own. This series win against Oakland brings them to 13-9 against winning teams at Guaranteed Rate Field.

However, they are 7-16 on the road against winning clubs. Tampa Bay and Toronto are both winning clubs. Here's an opportunity for the Sox to answer their critics.