A’s crush White Sox in front of massive free crowd

In front of 46,028 fans on a free ticket night marking the 50th anniversary of the team in Oakland, the Athletics swamped the Chicago White Sox 10-2 Tuesday night.

Stephen Piscotty and Jonathan Lucroy each drove in three runs from the bottom of the Oakland order, and A’s starter Trevor Cahill (W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA) backed the 13-hit outburst with seven shutout innings in his first major league start since August of last season.

This story has been updated with quotes and post-game material from the A’s clubhouse at the Oakland Coliseum.

Second baseman Jed Lowrie got the scoring started for Oakland in the bottom of the first inning, launching a 1-1 pitch with two outs from Chicago starter Miguel González (L, 0-3, 12.41 ERA) over the right field wall for his fifth home run of the season.

After loading the bases, González surrendered two more runs on a single from centerfielder Mark Canha. The two-out rally was not over, though. Right fielder Piscotty doubled off the right-center field wall to bring Canha and third baseman Matt Chapman home, giving the A’s a 5-0 lead at the end of the first inning.

This strong start was backed by another prolific bottom of the fourth inning. González was chased from the game after surrendering a two-run single to catcher Jonathan Lucroy with nobody out.

Already 7-0, the game continued to get more out of hand when reliever Héctor Santiago came in. He promptly allowed a sacrifice fly to shortstop Marcus Semien, scoring Lucroy for an 8-0 lead.

Manager Bob Melvin was feeling good about his team’s offensive output:

“We’ve always felt like we have a good offensive club, so it’s about sustaining it. We’re playing a little better right now all the way across the board too.”

The A’s received a 2018 debut from Cahill beyond anyone’s most optimistic of expectations. Cahill said about his performance:

“I felt really good. I felt a little more nerves than a normal person taking the ball in the big leagues this year … the first one [start] is always nerve-racking, but the offense really helped me out.”

In case an eight-run lead wasn’t enough, Oakland added insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh. A Piscotty sacrifice fly and Lucroy single pushed the blowout to 10-0.

The White Sox struggled all night to string hits together. Their five hits against Cahill were almost always followed by groundouts and popouts. The shutout finally ended in the top of the eighth, when second baseman Yoan Moncada uncorked a two-run shot to right as boos rained down from the remaining Oakland fans.

On Deck

RHP Andrew Triggs (1-0, 2.87 ERA) is probable to make his fourth start of the season against White Sox righty Carson Fulmer (0-1, 5.59 ERA) tomorrow. First pitch is at 12:35 p.m.

Notes

The Athletics designated outfielder Trayce Thompson for assignment and put right-hander Yusmeiro Petit on the family medical emergency list. This made room for the call-ups of tonight’s starting pitcher Trevor Cahill, and right-handed reliever Lou Trivino, from Triple-A Nashville. Trevino said this regarding his major league call-up:

“I feel good. My body feels good, obviously I’m in high spirits … beyond excited. I’m very pumped and very blessed to be here.”

Trevino made his debut in the ninth inning, allowing two hits and a walk with one strikeout in one inning pitched. Petit is expected to return to the active roster Saturday.