A’s run White Sox out of town with six stolen bases, 7-4 victory

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Rajai Davis steals second base as White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson waits for the throw from Kevan Smith during the sixth inning Wednesday. (AP)

OAKLAND, Calif. — Ninety-nine pitches by their starter in 3 1/3 innings, six stolen bases by the opposition and too much Sonny Gray were more than enough to take down the White Sox in a 7-4 loss Wednesday to the Athletics.

The A’s (37-48), who were reeling with six consecutive losses overall and eight in a row at home after the Sox (37-47) took the series opener Monday, rebounded with back-to-back victories in their effort to pin the American League’s worst record back on the Sox.

Gray, who has a 1.71 ERA in his last 21 innings, allowed two runs and three hits and struck out five in six innings. Sox right-hander Mike Pelfrey (3-7), who allowed four runs in his abbreviated outing, fell to 0-6 in his career in six starts against the A’s.

Rajai Davis stole four bases and Franklin Barreto and Matt Joyce one each. The Sox have thrown out only nine of 64 would-be base-stealers (14 percent), the worst percentage in the majors. All six were against catcher Kevan Smith, but Pelfrey and relievers Gregory Infante and Juan Minaya shared some responsibility.

‘‘I don’t know if the stolen bases were as much a factor as everything else,’’ manager Rick Renteria said. ‘‘Everybody wants to make that an issue. . . . There were more things that went on that we just weren’t able to do offensively.’’

Matt Davidson homered against Gray in the fifth and Todd Frazier against Sean Doolittle in the ninth. It was Davidson’s 18th home run and Frazier’s 16th.

Rock-solid gesture

The Sox will celebrate former outfielder Tim Raines’ induction into the Hall of Fame with a day in his honor Sept. 9.

‘‘We were thrilled when we learned that Tim had been elected into the Hall of Fame and wanted to create an opportunity for the entire White Sox family — from our front office to our fans — to show how proud we are of Tim’s incredible baseball career,’’ Sox senior vice president of sales and marketing Brooks Boyer said.

Raines, 57, will be inducted July 30 in Cooperstown, New York, with Jeff Bagwell, Ivan Rodriguez, John Schuerholz and Bud Selig. He spent 23 seasons in the majors, including five with the Sox (1991-95).

Davidson in rare company

Davidson’s homer tied him with Ron Kittle (1983), Carlos May (1969) and Zeke Bonura (1934) for the second-most by a Sox rookie before the All-Star break. Jose Abreu hit 29 before the break in 2014.

Davidson’s clout followed a 4-for-36 slide and was his first homer in 11 games.

Hot and not

Tim Anderson (0-for-3, two strikeouts) is 5-for-41 in his last 12 games. He has one homer in his last 31 games and has seen his average fall to .239.

• Melky Cabrera and Abreu extended their hitting streaks to six games.

With a team-high 58 RBI, Abreu is looking to join Al Simmons, Albert Pujols, Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio as the only major-leaguers to drive in 100 or more runs in each of his first four seasons.

Follow me on Twitter @CST_soxvan.

Email: dvanschouwen@suntimes.com

<em>Sonny Gray pitches against the White Sox in the first inning at Oakland Alameda Coliseum. (Getty Images)</em>

Sonny Gray pitches against the White Sox in the first inning at Oakland Alameda Coliseum. (Getty Images)

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