A’s fall to White Sox as Crisp caught stealing home

Speedy A's center fielder Coco Crisp was caught stealing home in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs trying to score the tying run, as the Oakland A's lost to the Chicago White Sox 4-3.

Chicago catcher A.J. Pierzynski caught reliever Matt Thorton's high inside pitch and dove at Crisp, who was trying to angle around the catcher.

Crisp, who generally has a green light to steal second or third base, received no sign from the bench, though A's manager Bob Geren didn't seem concerned by the Crisp's gamble. Crisp created the scoring opportunity by drawing a one-out walk, stealing second base, and moving to third on a ground out.

A's starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy went seven innings, but gave up an early lead allowing all four of the Chicago runs to score in the second inning.

The A's offense was shut down all night until the seventh inning, when the A's scored three runs by playing small ball, getting four consecutive singles and scoring on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly.

The A's began a seven game home stand on Friday, which will include two-game sets against the Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota Twins after their three-game series against the White Sox.