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Doolittle Gives Up Homer In 9th As A's Lose To White Sox

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Sean Doolittle felt great while retiring the first two hitters he faced in the ninth. He did not get a chance to finish the inning after allowing a tiebreaking home run to Jimmy Rollins.

"I felt like I had swing-and-miss stuff," Doolittle said after the Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 5-4 on Tuesday night. "That's the one mistake I made and he made me pay for it."

The A's, who were 19-35 in one-run games last year, suffered their second straight such loss to open the season.

"It's tough to come back in here, a one-run loss again, at home," Doolittle said. "I'm disgusted with myself."

A's starter Chris Bassitt may have felt worse about his one mistake: Todd Frazier's three-run homer on an 0-2 pitch that put the White Sox ahead in the fifth, nullifying four shutout innings up to that point.

"He's one of the best bad ball hitters in the game," Bassitt said. "I've made a lot worse pitch than I did there and he made me pay for it."

A's manager Bob Melvin thought the ball would have bounced in front of the plate had Frazier taken the pitch.

"You try to expand the zone with two strikes and he caught one way out in front of the plate," Melvin said.

Nate Jones (1-0) pitched one inning for the win and David Robertson worked a scoreless ninth for his second save.

Yonder Alonso and Jed Lowrie drove in two runs apiece for the A's. Oakland has lost 13 of its last 18 against Chicago.

Rollins' first home run of the season bailed out Chicago's bullpen after starter Jose Quintana was saddled with the 53rd no-decision of his career, most in the majors since 2012.

Alfonso's two-run single in the eighth tied the game, setting up Rollins' heroics.

LOWRIE DELIVERS

Lowrie drove in a pair of runs for the A's, giving them the early 1-0 lead in the third.

"It seems like every hit he gets, there's a runner in scoring position," Melvin said. "He can hit, there's no doubt."

FLU BUGS A'S

The flu is apparently working its way through the Athletics' clubhouse. Oakland ace Sonny Gray was scratched from his opening day start Monday and sent to the hospital with possible food poisoning, though he now says it might have been a 24-hour flu bug. Fellow starting pitcher Kendall Graveman was also not feeling well and spent the day trying to recover, though he is expected to make his scheduled start on Thursday.

"I've had this Purell hand dispenser in here for years and now everybody doesn't think I'm so crazy," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "We had (head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta) address the team and go over what we can try to do to combat that. We're going to do the best we can."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Athletics: Bassitt was drafted by the White Sox in 2011. He gave up four runs in 5 1/3 innings. ... Liam Hendriks retired all eight batters he faced.

UP NEXT

White Sox: LHP Carlos Rodon, who went 9-6 last season, faces Oakland on Wednesday. The 23-year-old Rodon finished fifth among rookies a year ago with 139 strikeouts.

Athletics: Gray makes his delayed season debut against Chicago. Gray has never defeated the White Sox and has an 8.10 ERA in two starts against them.

 

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.

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