Resurgent White Sox offense stacks up hits, but not when they need them in 7-6 walk-off loss to A's

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A suddenly hot-hitting White Sox squad racked up eight more hits but couldn't get one when they needed it most before getting walked off Saturday by the Athletics 7-6 in 11 innings.

The Sox squandered three bases-loaded opportunities while their bullpen escaped two such jams to keep them in the game after blowing an early five-run lead.

"Not a lot going on with runners in scoring position as we moved through that game," manager Will Venable said after his team stranded 14, one fewer than the A's. "Man, that was a hard-fought game on both sides."

Colson Montgomery got the Sox on the board in the second inning with his fourth home run of the season, and the Sox piled on Athletics starter Luis Severino. Everson Pereira blooped a double to right field and came around on Reese McGuire’s single, before Andrew Benintendi thwacked a three-run homer to make it 5-0.

The A's chipped away at Sox starter Erick Fedde, who gave up three runs on two hits and four walks with three strikeouts over 4 ⅔ innings.

Munetaka Murakami slammed his second mammoth home run in as many days, this one a solo blast in the seventh, but Nick Kurtz tied it up with a no-doubt two-run bomb off Jordan Leasure in the bottom half of the inning.

A's third baseman Max Muncy eked out the game-winning sacrifice fly off Sox reliever Lucas Sims. The Sox went 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position.

"We came out hot and kind of cooled off a little bit there," Benintendi said.

Measuring Mune’s moonshot

Munetaka Murakami’s Statcast-projected 431-foot grand slam sure felt like a lowball estimate in the Sox clubhouse the morning after the rookie slugger’s seventh-inning rocket cleared the batter’s eye in center field to seal Friday’s 9-2 win.

“I got more than 431. I don't know who's doing that calculation, but that ball was touched right there,” said Venable, who categorized it as “a majestic blast.”

A similar moonshot at Sutter Health Park last summer by Tigers outfielder Riley Greene was clocked at 471 feet.

From the Sox’ dugout, starter Davis Martin thought Denzel Clarke’s leisurely strides indicated the A’s center fielder had a beat on the 114-mph laser that Murakami cranked off a 98-mph fastball from Elvis Alvarado.

Then Davis’ jaw dropped.

“I looked at our pitching coach [Zach Bove] like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Martin said. “Guy’s got stupid juice.”

Acuna’s growing pains

Luisangel Acuna snapped an 0-for-21 skid at the plate with a single and followed up with an RBI double for his first extra-base hit in a Sox uniform during their offensive onslaught Friday on a night that encapsulated the 24-year-old’s potential upside and early struggles.

Acuna, who has learned center field on the job since arriving from the Mets in the Luis Robert Jr. trade, also lost a fly ball in the lights that bounced for a ground-rule double. But he gamely tracked down a few screaming liners and swiped his fifth bag of the season.

“He's been grinding, like so many of these guys have, and he's working so hard pre-game to get his swing right, to put himself in a good position out there. To get rewarded is great, and just really nice for him, nice for us,” Venable said. “He's a good player and he can hit.”

Acuna has a paltry .478 OPS compared to .751 for Robert, who hit a double in his return to Chicago on Friday against the Cubs.

Roster shuffle

The Sox claimed journeyman right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Braves and transferred Prelander Berroa from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL in his recovery from Tommy John surgery.

Bido, 30, joins his fourth team with a 5.13 ERA over 64 career games (28 starts) with 185 strikeouts in 203 ⅔ innings. He gave up seven runs in six relief appearances before being designated for assignment by Atlanta.

Meanwhile, the Astros claimed outfielder Dustin Harris, whom the Sox DFA’d last week.