Right-hander Lance Lynn labored through four innings in the White Sox’ 3-2 victory Wednesday against the Athletics at Guaranteed Rate Field, then had his night cut short by umpire Nic Lentz, who ejected the Cy Young Award candidate for throwing his belt onto the field during a routine check for a foreign substance.
‘‘I was coming off the mound, he was late getting over, so I left the glove and my hat,’’ Lynn said. ‘‘While I was going to the dugout because I’m dealing with something, he yelled that he needs to see my belt, so I tossed it up and he threw me out.
‘‘I’m trying to get some work done so I can go out there for the fifth, and obviously I hurt his feelings.’’
Lynn said he wanted to get to the trainer because of some discomfort he was dealing with but shrugged it off as normal.
‘‘See you in five days,’’ he said.
Lynn, who had left his glove and cap on the railing of the dugout, threw his belt all the way from the tunnel area onto the warning track by the dugout. Pitchers have been subjected to regular checks for sticky substances this season.
‘‘If you’re not emotional in this game, you’re not any good,” manager Tony La Russa said of Lynn’s reaction.
Closer Liam Hendriks got five outs for his 28th save, stranding runners at second and third in the eighth before striking out the side in the ninth, as the Sox won their third consecutive game against the A’s, who eliminated them from the American League playoffs in the wild-card round last season. Setup man Craig Kimbrel wasn’t available because he was attending his grandfather’s funeral.
Luis Robert had three hits and drove in two runs to pace the Sox’ offense, and Eloy Jimenez drove in a run with a double.
Lynn was already warm under the collar on a humid night after needing 88 pitches to get through four innings, including 31 in the first, when the A’s first two batters reached on a walk and single. Lynn struck out Matt Olson and Jed Lowrie and got Josh Harrison on a grounder to escape that jam.
In the third, the A’s loaded the bases on a double by Mark Canha, an error on shortstop Tim Anderson on a 103 mph, one-hop smash by Starling Marte and a walk to Olson. But Lynn struck out Lowrie and Harrison, then got Matt Chapman on a pop-up to Anderson to end that threat.
Lynn allowed three walks and three hits and struck out four. He got 10 swinging strikes. The A’s run against him came on left-handed-hitting Seth Brown’s home run into the Sox’ bullpen, his 16th of the season but first to the opposite field.
Jimenez drove in the Sox’ first run in the first before Robert, who was back in the lineup after a planned night off Tuesday, singled home runs in the fourth and sixth. He is 9-for-16 with two homers and four RBI in his last four games.
‘‘We didn’t need a reminder about how much we missed him all those months,’’ La Russa said.
Left-hander Garrett Crochet (3-5) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Lynn before right-hander Ryan Tepera allowed the A’s second run in the seventh. It wasn’t his fault, however. Robert slipped in center while moving up to catch a routine fly by Elvis Andrus, allowing the ball to sail over his head for a triple. Andrus scored on a sacrifice fly by Marte.
The Sox’ victory, coupled with the Indians’ loss to the Twins earlier in the day, hiked their lead to 12 games in the AL Central. It is their largest lead of the season.
