Not at his best, Keuchel gets revenge on A's

CHICAGO -- It has been 319 days since Dallas Keuchel last faced the A's in the 2020 American League Wild Card Series, but the veteran southpaw has not forgotten.

“I am very frustrated and I beat myself up still on how I performed in Game 2 last year,” said Keuchel, who suffered the loss in Oakland. “We owed those guys, or we owe those guys a little bit.”

Payback began on Monday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, as the White Sox (69-50) claimed a 5-2 victory over the A’s (68-51) to end a two-game losing streak. Keuchel (8-6) played a part in the success story, striking out two and allowing two runs over five innings.

That victory came after Keuchel looked to be in a little trouble during the second inning. Matt Chapman homered, and a hit by pitch to Josh Harrison and back-to-back walks to Stephen Piscotty and Vimael Machín put Keuchel in a bases-loaded situation with one out. But the veteran southpaw hasn’t won 98 games over the course of his career without being able to pitch through a few difficult situations.

After an RBI single by Mark Canha made it 2-0 A's, Keuchel induced a grounder back to the mound from Starling Marte, leading to a forceout at the plate. He then struck out Matt Olson on a 3-2 checked swing, which was a borderline call but went the White Sox way.

“There's a couple of batters each game that I lose my feel and command,” Keuchel said. “I was just one pitch away and I was very frustrated at myself for that second run, but corralled it in and finished strong. That's a great lineup, so I look forward to days like this where you get to face a quality lineup.”

“We just had to get Keuchel back in the zone, and once we were able to get him back, we were able to limit the damage,” catcher Seby Zavala said. “When you have bases loaded like that, you have to limit the damage and give our team a chance to come back with the bats.”

Zavala contributed two hits and two RBIs, with his single in the fourth off Oakland starter Frankie Montas (9-9) tying the game and his safety squeeze in the sixth scoring a run. Manager Tony La Russa was able to call for the safety squeeze with a gifted runner in Luis Robert on third, and Zavala executed perfectly.

“Just get it down. Team needs it. Have to find a way to get it down,” said Zavala of his bunting mindset. “Luckily, [Yusmeiro Petit] threw a strike and I was able to get it down and put a run across the board.”

“You’ve got real good speed at third and you’ve got a guy at the plate who’s as fundamentally sound as anybody we have handling the bat,” La Russa said. “Whether he’s putting the ball in play or bunting, Seby has got a great ability to get himself in a good bunting situation. It was set up perfect: Right hitter and the right runner.”

Robert swiped second in that inning on a play in which he was originally ruled out, but the call was overturned after La Russa challenged. The multitalented center fielder also homered in the eighth, truly making his three-month absence due to a torn right hip flexor seem like a thing of the past.

“He’s a complete player,” said La Russa of Robert. “We did miss him. Glad to get him back.”

In reality, Monday’s game was akin to a playoff contest. Two contending teams battling, for starters. Keuchel did solid work for five innings and then Michael Kopech, Craig Kimbrel and Liam Hendriks (27th save) combined for nine strikeouts over four scoreless innings.

Kopech worked two of those scoreless frames, producing quite a few uncomfortable swings from Oakland.

“When everything is going good, everything is going great,” said Kopech of the bullpen and the White Sox, who lead the American League Central by 11 games. “We got those two guys at the back end. You can flip a coin and be comfortable they are going to dominate.

“I don’t think any rough stretches for any of us dictate what kind of team this is. I don’t think we let it take us to the next day. Every time we come to the field, we are ready to win and compete.”