*Photo from Taiwan News*
Oakland wins series 2-1
The streak is over. Sean Murphy homered, Chad Pinder drove in the winning runs, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4 in game 3 of the best of 3 wild card round to advance to the ALDS. With the win, Oakland snapped their 9 game losing streak in do or die elimination games in the playoffs. Oakland is heading to their first ALDS since 2013, and won their first playoff series since 2006.
The White Sox got the scoring started in the second inning, when Luis Robert hit a solo homer to center field, making it 1-0 White Sox. In the 3rd, Robert hit an RBI single, and Nomar Mazara hit an RBI double to make it 3-0 White Sox. In the 4th, Murphy got the A's on the board with a two run homer, making it a 3-2 game. Later in the inning, Mark Canha and Matt Olson drew bases loaded walks, giving Oakland a 4-3 lead. In the 5th, Nomar Mazara hit an RBI single, tying the game at 4. In the bottom of the 5th, Pinder hit a two run single to left field, giving Oakland a 6-4 lead, one they wouldn't give up.
A's manager Bob Melvin described Oakland's response to the early deficit, saying that "There were some really big hits in that game that swung it back after we were down early, guys really responded. Murphy homers, and now we feel like we’re really back in the game. Pinder had a terrific game playing on a bad hamstring. You want your best, toughest players in there in games like that. Those guys showed up today."
Frankie Montas got the win for Oakland, pitching two innings in relief. Montas gave up one run on two hits, striking out two hitters. Mike Fiers got the start for Oakland, lasting just 1 2/3 innings. Fiers gave up one run on 5 hits and one walk, striking out two hitters. Oakland used a bullpen heavy approach, as Yusmeiro Petit, JB Wendelken, Lou Trivino, Jake Diekman, Joakim Soria, and Liam Hendriks all pitched, in addition to Fiers and Montas.
Hendriks said of the heavy pitcher usage that "We trust our bullpen with our lives, between Frankie Montas coming in on short rest to Petit doing what he always does. J.B. coming in. Lou Trivino was able to do the job. Jake Diekman pitched for a third day in a row and got out of a jam. Then, Soria in the eighth got those huge outs. That was a big thing. There were a lot of times where this game was hanging in the balance and we were able to throw it by them. This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to ride our ’pen as hard as we can. I threw probably 70 pitches in two days. I haven’t done that since about 2015."
Evan Marshall took the loss for the White Sox, throwing two relief innings. Marshall allowed two runs on two hits and two walks, striking out two hitters. Dane Dunning got the start for the White Sox, getting just two outs in the first inning before being lifted, despite not giving up any runs. The White Sox also used a bullpen heavy approach, with Garrett Crochet, Aaron Bummer, Codi Heuer, Carlos Rodon, Matt Foster, Jimmy Cordero, and Alex Colome all seeing action.
Shortstop Tim Anderson was at peace with losing, saying after the game that "We can live with this one, we gave our all, I know we gave our all. But this is something that I hope gets a lot of guys excited." Anderson also offered some hope for the coming years, saying that "It's just the start of something, it was good for us to get in. Guys got a taste of it, and I think it's just going to make them more hungry to get back there. We battled today. I couldn't be more happy and proud of the way we fought, and I know that we gave our all."
The White Sox head home for the winter, looking ahead to offseason plans and the start of spring training in February 2021. The A's move on to the ALDS, where they will face the division rival Houston Astros.
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