Athletics dominate White Sox on Jackie Robinson Day

Now that’s how you start a road trip

The A’s started their six-game road trip on the right foot Tuesday night in Chicago, beating the White Sox 12-3 and taking the victory on Jackie Robinson Day. What a way to open the road trip.

A’s and White Sox trade early runs

The action got started early today at Rate Field. The A’s got out to a fast start as they were all over White Sox starter Sean Burke from the jump. Back-to-back singles from Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker started the game and Tyler Soderstrom launched a ball over the right-center field fence for a three-run home run:

That blast gave Soderstrom sole possession of the home run lead in all of baseball, ahead of the likes of mega superstars Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. Just like we all expected. And that wouldn’t be all from the lefty slugger tonight.

Staked to a lead before throwing a single pitch, A’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs was in excellent position to start this game. Facing a lineup that has struggled all season and given a lead Springs couldn’t ask for much more. Searching for his third win in an Athletics uniform Springs instead was off his game from his first pitch. Chicago put a pair of baserunners on themselves before tying this game on their own 3-run home run, this one coming off a hanging changeup to first baseman Andrew Vaughn. Not the best start to Springs’ outing as that early lead was erased.

A’s take the lead, and run away with it

After seeing his hit streak snapped on Sunday, shortstop Jacob Wilson got a new one started in the top of the second with a leadoff single. One pitch later third baseman Gio Urshela drove him in with an RBI double to retake the lead for the A’s:

It was a slow start for the veteran journeyman but he’s starting to heat up for the A’s, going 5-for-13 with three doubles and four RBI’s in his last four games. A small sample but signs of life,

The A’s tacked on another run in the third when Shea Langeliers took Burke deep to lead off the inning:

That was the catcher’s fourth long ball of the year. ‘Bangeliers’ would finish the day 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI’s, falling just a triple short of the cycle.

The A’s almost scored again in the fourth but a Rooker long fly came up just short at the warning track. The Green & Gold did add on some insurance in the sixth with a four-spot, with the entire rally coming with two outs. A Max Muncy double and Butler RBI single brought in the first run, Rooker collected his second single of the night, and Soderstrom launched another 3-run home run (!):

That’s eight home runs for those of you counting at home. Soderstrom entered the day tied atop the homer leader board and will finish with a two-homer lead. He finished the day 3-for-5 with three runs scored, the two long balls, and six RBI’s to boot. Not too shabby and it’s starting to feel like this might be sustainable and the strong defense is a nice bonus. He also put himself in the Athletics history books tonight:

That’s pretty good company to be in.

Springs settles in

While the offense was having their way with his counterpart, Springs was making himself comfortable after a rough first inning. Over his final four frames of work the left-hander was much more commanding, allowing just one more hit and a couple walks with a couple more strikeouts. He also got a lot of help from his corner infielders on defense:

That’s a web gem right there. Urshela has been as advertised, providing a steady if unspectacular contribution at the hot corner. Soderstrom has been a revelation with the glove at first base, showcasing excellent athleticism and quick reflexes in his first time being a full-time first baseman. With him hitting and fielding like he has been, how the A’s handle him and star prospect Nick Kurtz together on the same team will be fascinating to watch. That Kurtz promotion is coming sooner than later and so will the answers to that roster puzzle.

Springs’ day was finished after five innings, finishing the game off by retiring the final seven batters he faced.

• Jeffrey Springs: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 93 pitches

A rough beginning to this outing but another overall successful outing. He had to battle through not having his best stuff early but he managed to pull through. It wasn’t as dominant as one would have hoped against a weak lineup but we’re starting to see a pattern in Springs’ outings:

It’s a tale of two pitchers. Springs needs to come out of the gate sharper going forward if he wants his bottom line stats to match what people watching his starts see. Even with an overall strong start tonight his season ERA still rose as it now stands at 4.50 after four starts. He’ll look to have a better start to his next outing, which is tentatively scheduled to be against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday to wrap up the road trip.

Finishing things off

The A’s, now up 9-3, didn’t take their foot off the break even in the ninth inning. Langeliers banged an RBI double, JJ Bleday provided an RBI groundout, and Miguel Andujar added a sac fly to push the score to 12-3:

After Springs came right-hander Justin Sterner, who had a scoreless inning of work before giving way to Mitch Spence. The right=hander looked good in another extended outing as he pitched the final three frames of the game, allowing just a pair of hits while earning his first career save:

The Athletics did what they needed to do tonight. They came out of the gates strong and had the momentum for almost the entire game. Tonight was as good a way to begin a new series as you could get. Soderstrom continues to power the offense and now leads all of baseball in home runs. It’s unsustainable but he’s on pace to easily eclipse 40 home runs if he keeps this pace up all season. The top half of the lineup was productive as the 1 through 4 hitters went 10-for-18 with three home runs and nine RBI’s along with a pair of free passes. Wilson started a new hit streak. The defense was mostly clean and Springs bounced back from a rough start to give the A’s five full innings. All in all a nice win on Jackie Robinson Day as the team now sits at 7-10

The A’s will continue their series tomorrow evening. It’ll be a battle of right-handers as Osvaldo Bido takes the ball for the Athletics while sophomore Jonathan Cannon will be on the mound for Chicago. The A’s can win the series outright with a victory tomorrow night so let’s hope they saved some of the scoring for tomorrow!