Chicago White Sox continue their hot stretch, beating the Oakland A’s 10-2 for their 9th win in the last 11 games

OAKLAND, Calif. — Chicago White Sox acting manager Miguel Cairo said the team is “on a mission.”

“They want to go out there and perform and do their job,” Cairo said.

The Sox put together another impressive performance, beating the Oakland Athletics 10-2 in front of 11,107 at Oakland Coliseum.

The Sox had 20 hits Saturday and collected 48 through the first three games of the series, including 21 Thursday.

It’s the second time in franchise history the White Sox have had at least 20 hits twice in a three-game span. The other was June 19 (20 hits at Cleveland) and June 21 (21 hits at Minnesota), 1974.

“It’s been special,” said Andrew Vaughn, who had four hits. “One through nine, everybody’s taking great at-bats and we’re scoring runs. We’ve just got to keep this going.”

Shortstop Elvis Andrus continued his hot hitting against his former team.

He led off Thursday’s game with a homer and on Friday broke a tie with a two-run double in the ninth.

Andrus went 2-for-5 with a three-run homer and two runs Saturday as the Sox won for the ninth time in their last 11 games. They entered the day in second place in the American League Central, 1½ games behind the Cleveland Guardians.

Andrus signed with the Sox on Aug. 19 after being released by the A’s. He played for Oakland in 2021-22 after spending 12 seasons with the Texas Rangers (2009-20).

“We’ve got one more game (in the series) and just hope he continues doing what he’s doing,” Cairo said. “I’m glad that we have him. He gets good at-bats, he gets us going in the leadoff spot and it’s been awesome to have him.”

It’s all been on display against the A’s.

Andrus had two hits, including the home run, two RBIs and scored three times in Thursday’s 14-2 victory. He had two more hits Friday, including the two-run double to cap the five-run ninth in the 5-3 victory.

Saturday’s homer came during a four-run second inning.

AJ Pollock singled, his first of four hits, and scored on a single to center by Yasmani Grandal. Josh Harrison singled, his first of three hits, and Andrus followed with the three-run homer to center on Adrián Martínez’s 2-0 sinker.

“It’s been huge,” Vaughn said of Andrus’ impact. “With (All-Star) Tim (Anderson) going down (with a sagittal band tear on the middle finger in early August), having (Andrus) show up and do what he’s done has been unbelievable.”

The Sox added three runs in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to right by Eloy Jiménez and a two-run double by Vaughn. Jiménez had a two-run single, his third hit, in the seventh.

“Guys are playing loose, showing up and it’s been good,” Pollock said. “The whole year has been such a grind and I feel like we’re in a good spot right now.”

Martínez, who remained in the game after getting hit in the left shoulder by Gavin Sheets’ liner in the second, allowed seven runs on 14 hits in 3⅔ innings.

Sox starter Lance Lynn received a visit from the training staff while appearing to shake his right leg in the first inning.

“Just getting it loose, morning game, took a minute to get going this morning,” Lynn said.

He remained in the game and went six innings while allowing two runs (none earned) on three hits with five strikeouts.

Lynn (6-5) is 5-2 since the All-Star break. He, like the Sox, continued going in the right direction Saturday.

“When you look at the stretch that we’re in right now, it’s pretty good,” Lynn said. “But we still have some ground to catch up. We knew with a month left we had to make a move, so we’re doing everything we can every day to do that.”