Bullpen falters as White Sox suffer sweep against Athletics

By Toni Ginnetti

Second baseman Alen Hanson is tagged out at home plate by A’s starter Sonny Gray in the first inning. | AP

Derek Holland pitched one of his better games of the year Sunday — allowing one run on four hits in six innings — but the taxed Sox’ bullpen let the Athletics rally for a 5-3 victory and get a three-game sweep in Chicago for the first time since 2005.

“They gave it everything they’ve got,’’ Holland said. “They’ve picked me up before. The thing is I need to go longer and get into the seventh.’’

The A’s scored a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth off Tommy Kahnle (0-2), though one of the runs was unearned after Matt Davidson made an error at third on a Ryon Healy ground ball. David Robertson and Chris Beck allowed solo home runs in the ninth.

Beck left the game in the ninth after being hit in the left leg by Khris Davis’ single.

Center fielder Adam Engel hit his first career homer in the third for the Sox and left fielder Melky Cabrera added a solo shot in the eighth.

The Sox, who were swept for the fifth time this season, lost for the 18th time after having a lead.

“They’re all a little fatigued right now,’’ manager Rick Renteria said of the team. “Everyone is going through it right now.’’

New York state of mind

The Sox have had the upper hand against the Yankees at home in recent years, winning 11 of the last 16 played at Guaranteed Rate Field, including two of the last three.

But the Yankees won two of three in Yankee Stadium in April and are one of the top teams in the American League East.

“They’re probably one of the top clubs offensively, and they’ve got some arms,’’ Renteria said. “They’ve got some balance to them. And it’s always an expected return for them to be able to be seen by everybody.

“We’ll do our best to minimize what they do to us and try to win some ballgames.’’

Future view

Carlos Rodon got to see first-hand some of the talent the Sox are counting on for the future during his time at Class AAA Charlotte.

“There’s a lot of talent,’’ he said. “Those guys are kind of more my age [24]. It’s a young team.

“Watching [Yoan] Moncada is fun. There’s no doubt [he will be a force]. He’s strong, a good player, good defense, and he can swing the hell out of it.’’

The Sox acquired Moncada from the Red Sox as part of the Chris Sale trade.

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