Allen has big day as A's romp White Sox

*Photo from AP News*

   The young A's are starting to find some success. Ryan Noda drove in 3 runs, Nick Allen had a 5 RBI Day, and the Oakland Athletics routed the Chicago White Sox with a 12-4 victory on Friday night in Chicago.

   Although still out of contention for the playoffs, the A's have won the first two games of the series with the White Sox and have 5 wins in 10 games. A big reason why was Allen, the second year infielder, who had his first 5 RBI game to reach a career high in RBI's in a single game.

   Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said that "We’ve got guys that are gaining experience every day here at this level, which can only lead to their futures and to our future success. We continue to teach, continue to have meetings daily to just basically make them aware of the small details that we continue to sometimes miss, which leads to successful teams and winning championship seasons."

   Lawrence Butler hit an RBI single in the second inning to give the A's a 1-0 lead. Allen hit an RBI single before Noda added a two run single and Zack Gelof hit an RBI double, making it a 5-0 lead for the A's. Lenyn Sosa hit a two run home run in the bottom of the second to make it 5-2 before Yoan Moncada hit an RBI double in the 3rd to make it a 5-3 game.

   Allen hit an RBI single in the 4th inning to pad the A's lead to 6-3. He then added a two run single in the 5th to make it 8-3 before Jonah Bride scored on an error to make it a 9-3 game. Eloy Jimenez hit a 5th inning solo home run to make it 9-4. Shea Langeliers had an RBI groundout in the 6th to make it 10-4. Allen and Noda hit solo home runs in the 7th to make it a 12-4 game.

   Zach Neal started for the A's and won his first start in 7 years, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings pitched. Sean Newcomb struck out 3 hitters in two scoreless innings before Francisco Perez pitched two scoreless innings to seal the win.

   Neal said after the game that "It means a lot, man. It's kind of been my mantra, man, just keep going. You just never know. To do that tonight is super cool and something I'll remember. Hopefully, it gives other people inspiration, too. Just keep going, man. You never know."

   Dylan Cease was tagged for 9 runs on 9 hits and 5 walks while lasting just 4 1/3 innings in the loss for the White Sox. Tanner Banks allowed 3 runs while pitching the next 2 2/3 innings before Bryan Shaw pitched two scoreless innings.

   White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said of the blowout loss after the game that "Twenty-two baserunners, 15 hits, seven free bases. That’s not, you can’t win ballgames that way. A couple of home runs. Too much traffic. On the offensive side, we got a little something going but we went back out and gave it back again."

   Up next, the series continues on Saturday night. The A's give the start to JP Sears as they go for 3 wins in a row and the series win. Touki Toussaint gets the start for the White Sox as they look to get back in the series.