Coco Crisp tried to pull off one of the most exciting plays in baseball on Friday night. And he did so in a critical spot with the game in the balance. With the Oakland Athletics trailing 4-3 on Friday night, Crisp tried a straight steal of home with two outs in the bottom half of the eighth inning. Crisp almost beat the tag, but was called out to end the A’s three-run comeback attempt that frame.
“It was right there for us but we couldn’t overcome the early four-run deficit,” A’s manager Bob Geren said. “If he’s safe, it’s the most exciting play in baseball. If he’s out, it’s a tough way to end an inning with a pretty good hitter up.”
Brandon McCarthy allowed four White Sox runs in the second inning. He gave up a leadoff single to Paul Konerko, then walked two consecutive batters to quickly load the bases with no outs. Alex Rios’ grounder scored one run before veteran Omar Vizquel drove in another with a double. McCarthy did himself no favors by wildly throwing to first base in an attempt to pickoff Juan Pierre. Vizquel raced home from third to make the score 4-0.
McCarthy, who fell to 1-4 on the year, last won a decision on April 10th. But after the shaky second inning, the right hander settled down nicely. He pitched nearly flawlessly the next five innings, allowing a mere two hits, while walking none and keeping the score at 4-0 until being removed after the seventh inning.
The A’s and White Sox resume their series tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 pm PST. Tyson Ross (2-2) will take the mound against Gavin Floyd (4-2)