Byrnes' glove, hot bat lead comeback
April 30, 2003
By LAURENCE MIEDEMA
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
CHICAGO -- The A's are having a tough time keeping Eric Byrnes out of the lineup. Tuesday, the Chicago White Sox couldn't keep the outfielder off base.
Byrnes tied a career high with three hits and scored twice, including the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, as the A's rallied to beat Chicago, 3-2, at U.S. Cellular Field.
The A's have won five in a row.
Byrnes, whose diving catch in the first inning ended a White Sox rally, helped Barry Zito (4-2) beat Chicago for the third consecutive time dating to last season.
The opener of this three-game series figured to be a pitching duel.
Zito and Chicago starter Bartolo Colon were 20-game winners last season.
Neither starter disappointed.
Zito yielded one earned run and four hits in seven innings and didn't allow a runner as far as second base after the fourth inning.
Colon (2-2) was nearly as good in his eight innings, allowing three runs and just six hits.
Byrnes had three of those hits and reached base in all four of his plate appearances. Byrnes has hit safely in four starts since replacing the injured Jermaine Dye in the lineup and has nine hits in his past 18 at-bats.
"I've always said it's easier to get hits when you get consecutive at-bats," Byrnes said. "You can take as much batting practice as you want, but it's not the same as being in a game."
The A's were trailing 2-0 in the fifth inning when Byrnes led off with a single to right. Chris Singleton followed with a triple off the center-field wall to cut the A's deficit to 2-1. Mark Ellis' sacrifice fly tied the score 2-2.
Byrnes came through again in the seventh with a one-out double. He scored on Singleton's single to right to give the A's a 3-2 lead.
"His determination out there has been something else," manager Ken Macha said of Byrnes. "He's played really well and he keeps writing his name in the lineup every day."
Former Chicago closer Keith Foulke pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save.
The A's had their chances early against Colon, who went 20-8 last season with Cleveland and Montreal. The right-hander walked the leadoff hitter in the first and fourth innings and yielded an infield single to Byrnes in the third inning.
But Byrnes was the only A's runner to get as far as second base before he scored from first on Singleton's fifth-inning triple.
Zito battled through some control problems, walking three and hitting a batter in the first five innings, but he kept the A's in reach.
Home runs continue to be the best way for opponents to get to Zito.
Tony Graffanino's homer in the third inning was the sixth Zito has allowed this season. Of the past 11 earned runs scored against Zito, eight have been produced by home runs.
The White Sox stretched their lead to 2-0 in the fourth inning with an unearned run. Carlos Lee led off by hitting a hard grounder to third baseman Eric Chavez. Chavez made a good backhand stab, but he one-hopped the throw to first baseman Scott Hatteberg for an error.
Zito nearly escaped the jam, getting Paul Konerko to pop out to second baseman Ellis and Joe Crede to ground back to the mound. But Aaron Rowand looped an RBI single into left-center to score Lee.
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