Unfortunately for Edwin Jackson, the Sox bullpen, and in particular Sergio Santos, did not have its best stuff on Friday night at the Cell.
Jackson pitched a quality start, throwing six innings while giving up two earned runs on eight hits, a walk, and a strikeout. The combination of Chris Sale, Brian Bruney, and Matt Thornton added another two innings, giving up only one more earned run.
Heading into the ninth, it seemed like the Sox were in line for another victory, owning a 5-3 lead on the A’s after a first inning home run by Paul Konerko and RBI hits by Carlos Quentin, Alex Rios, and Adam Dunn in the bottom of the fifth inning put them ahead.
But it was not to be. Sanots had almost no control of his slider on the night. After getting two outs, Santos walked Josh Willingham, gave up an RBI single to Hideki Matsui, walked Daric Barton, hit Kurt Suzuki with a pitch, and then gave up the decisive bases clearing double to Scott Sizemore. By the time Santos was pulled from the game, the A’s had come all the way back and led the Sox 7-5.
The Sox failed to get anything done in the bottom of the ninth frame, with Juan Pierre grounding out, and Alex Rios and Carlos Quentin flying out. The teams will play the third game of the four game set on Saturday night at the Cell. First pitch will be at 6:10 P.M., CDT.