White Sox Beat A’s 3-2

By MATT CARLSON

Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Luis Robert had three hits and two RBIs, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Eloy Jiménez had a run- scoring double for AL Central-leading Chicago, which earned its third consecutive victory.

Seth Brown homered for Oakland, which lost its fourth straight. Paul Blackburn (0-1) allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings.

The A’s learned before the game that pitcher Chris Bassitt has a broken bone in his cheek and needs surgery. The right-hander sustained no eye damage after being struck on the side of the head by a line drive Tuesday.

Robert and Jiménez are back after being sidelined by injuries, adding depth to Chicago’s lineup.

Manager Tony La Russa credits both with diligence during minor-league rehab stints that has carried over.

Robert slipped trying to catch Elvis Andrus’ triple in the seventh, and Andrus scored on Starling Marte’s sacrifice fly.

Other than that, Robert said he’s doing fine.

Garrett Crochet (3-5), the first of four White Sox relievers, pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win. Liam Hendriks got five outs for his 28th save, striking out the side in the ninth against his former team.

Craig Kimbrel, used as a setup man since coming over from the Cubs at the trade deadline, wasn’t avail- able because he was in Alabama following the death of his grandfather.

White Sox starter Lance Lynn was ejected by third- base umpire Nic Lentz in the middle of the fourth when he complained and threw his belt during a foreign substance check at the dugout. The big right-hander allowed one run and three hits while laboring through 88 pitches.

Blackburn (0-1) permitted five hits, struck out three and walked three in his first major league appearance this season after being called up to take Bassitt’s roster spot. Oakland’s other starters were pushed back a day.

Oakland fell one game behind New York for the top AL wild card. The Yankees are 69-52, followed by the A’s at 68-53 and the Red Sox at 69-54.