Birthday boy Lowrie homers as A’s beat White Sox 10-2
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Back in an Athletics uniform for the first time since 2011, Trevor Cahill admitted to some nerves when he took the mound for his season debut.
A five-run first inning a few minutes later was all the right-hander needed to calm down.
Cahill pitched seven scoreless innings in his season debut, Jed Lowrie marked his 34th birthday with a go-ahead home run in a five-run first inning and the the A's beat the Chicago White Sox 10-2 Tuesday night on the 50th anniversary of the A's first game at the Coliseum.
''I was just kind of mixing everything in there,'' Cahill said. ''The curveball was kind of erratic early, and then later I was able to throw it for a strike. We started mixing in a little slider-cutter there at the end. We just kind of used a little bit of everything.''
Stephen Piscotty and Jonathan Lucroy drove in three runs apiece, and Mark Canha added three hits and two RBIs. Oakland extended its winning streak to three with its first series win this season.
The game was played exactly 50 years after the A's debut at the Coliseum following their move from Kansas City, and it attracted a crowd of 46,028. Admission and parking were free, and players from both teams wore 1968 replica uniforms. The atmosphere was markedly different from a night earlier, when the announced attendance was 7,479 and the actual crowd appeared to be half that.
''It looked like the place was packed,'' Oakland manager Bob Mevin said. ''That was the objective, and I really wanted to put on a good show for them and our guys did right away. It was great to score some runs early on and get the crowd into it. When they get into it they have a lot of fun.''
Few people enjoyed the night as much as Cahill.
Cahill (1-0) signed in mid-March, made a pair of starts in the minor leagues and was brought up Tuesday for his first big league start since Aug. 9. He gave up five hits, struck out eight and walked two.
Now 30, the right-hander was a second-round draft pick of the A's in 2006 and spent his first three big league seasons in Oakland. He split time with Kansas City and San Diego last year and ended the season as a Royals reliever.
''The first one's always a little bit more nerve-racking, but I think the offense kind of helped me out, kind of get me to relax and go out there and fill up the zone,'' Cahill said. ''I was just kind of mixing everything in there.''
Yoan Moncada homered for Chicago, which has lost seven of eight.
''We're in that middle place right now where we're trying to dig ourselves out,'' White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. ''I think the guys may be trying to do too much.''
Lowrie hit a two-out solo homer off Miguel Gonzalez (0-3), Lowrie's first home run in Oakland this season. He is batting .351 and leads the AL with 26 hits and 18 RBIs.
STARTING OFF
Gonzalez gave up eight runs and eight hits in three innings, raising his ERA to 12.41.
DECENT DEBUT
Reliever Lou Trivino made his major league debut for the A's and ran into trouble immediately after giving up two hits and a walk to the first four batters in the ninth. The right-hander bounced back and struck out Omar Navraez swinging before getting Moncada to go down looking to end the game.
''Unless you've done that before your first big league game's an out of body experience,'' Melvin said. ''His stuff's going to play.''
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: OF Ryan Cordell, acquired from Milwaukee last season for RHP Anthony Swarzak, fractured his right clavicle during a minor league game and will miss at least eight weeks.
Athletics: RHP Yusmeiro Petit was placed on the family medical emergency list. OF Trayce Thompson was designated for assignment, and RHP Lou Trivino was recalled from Triple-A Nashville.
UP NEXT
RHP Carson Fulmer (0-1, 4.66 ERA) is to take the mound for the White Sox in his first start at the Coliseum in the finale of this three-game series Wednesday. RHP Andrew Triggs (1-0, 2.87) goes for the A's.
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