The White Sox took the field on a cool, cloudy day at Hook Road. They looked sharp, with fire in their eyes and eager to get back on track after the tough outing on Saturday. They jumped on the A’s starter for a quick run in the first. David Wynne started with his best inning to date, retiring the A’s in order and we moved to the second. The Sox started off with walks to Dominique and Wesley, and after a groundout advanced them to scoring position Mark drilled one to first. The first baseman made the play as one run scored and then Coach Grossman sent Wesley home as the first baseman didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the runner on third. Wesley crossed the plate and Coach Grossman looked much relieved after exorcising the demons that took control of him during his base coaching last Saturday.
The A’s picked up four in the second but Wesley came in for the rest of the game and pitched three very nice shutout innings. Meanwhile the Sox picked up two in the second and three in the third off of big hits by David Wynne and Nolan. So with a tenous 6-4 lead, Wesley took the mound in the bottom of the sixth.
The first batter hit a dribbler in front of the catcher. Next a walk and small dribller in front of the mound loaded the bases. With the bases loaded and no out, the White Sox lead looked quite small. The next batter grounded to Wesley who made an alert play throwing the first (his body was moving in that direction and a play at the plate would have been touch and go) and the A’s scored their fifth run. So with one out and third and second the White Sox fans were biting their nails and wringing their hands. But Wesley remained calm and worked his way out of the jam by striking out two batters and giving the Sox their third win.
Coach Grossman was extremely pressed for time due to his fervent coaching schedule was available for only a terse interview: He said “The A’s are good and we are fortunate to come out with a win in this one. I saw more progress here and I was truly impressed with Wesley’s work on the mound. Also Ricky notched his first hit and I am sure he’ll be building on that. “
