Athletics at White Sox
There's a youth movement in Oakland and the Athletics hope it keeps going in the right direction when they try for a three-game sweep of the White Sox in Chicago on Sunday. Oakland became the second team in major league history to boast three players hitting their first career home runs in the same game when right fielder Matt Olson (two), center fielder Jaycob Brugman and second baseman Franklin Barreto all went deep in the Athletics' 10-2 victory Saturday.
Barreto went 2-for-5 in his first major league game Saturday while Olson (.200 in 20 at-bats) recorded his second multi-hit contest in the last three games and Brugman (.245 in 53 at-bats) has walked five times in the last three games. Barreto might play again Sunday as regular Oakland second baseman Jed Lowrie was scratched from Saturday's lineup two hours prior to game time because of a sore knee. Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray tries to snap a five-start winless streak (0-2) and opposes lefty Derek Holland, who has endured three rough starts in his last four turns. Chicago (32-41), which has lost five of its last six games, is 19-33 versus right-handers this season.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, NBCSN California (Oakland), WGN (Chicago)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics RH Sonny Gray (2-3, 4.84 ERA) vs. White Sox LH Derek Holland (5-7, 4.48)
Gray allowed five runs - all in the first inning - seven hits and four walks while striking out five in five innings of an 8-4 loss to Houston on June 20. The 27-year-old Tennessee native, who last won on May 24, has seen his ERA rise 1.50 in 28 innings since. Gray yielded one run and three hits in seven innings of a 2-1 victory April 6, 2016 in his last outing against Chicago, improving to 1-0 with a 5.29 ERA in three starts versus the White Sox.
Holland permitted seven runs and eight hits in 2 2/3 innings of a 9-7 loss at Minnesota on June 20 and has allowed 22 runs in 15 2/3 frames while going 1-3 in his last four starts. “These guys put some runs up and the worst part is I didn’t do my job,” the 30-year-old Ohio native told reporters. “It was a really embarrassing performance and to let it slip like that is unacceptable. Too many guys working as hard as they did and putting runs on the board back for me it’s my job to shut that down but I didn’t." Holland is 5-5 with a 3.45 ERA in 21 games (15 starts) versus Oakland, including 0-1, 5.06 in three games (two starts) last season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Chicago 1B Jose Abreu (.292 batting average) went 0-for-4 on Saturday, snapping his 17-game hitting streak versus the Athletics.
2. Oakland committed three errors Saturday, raising its major league-leading total to 71.
3. Art Kruger, John Potts and Duke Kenworthy also hit their first career home runs in the same game for the Kansas City Packers of the Federal League, which was recognized as the third major league in 1914 and 1915.