Chisox @ A's series

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Game 1 ~ Rauch vs Lidle

Jermaine Dye is back and in the lineup tonight.

Oakland dominated last year's season series, going 8-1, including a three-game sweep here last May 18-20.

There is a chance of rain, but not enough to postpone the game.

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Game 1 A's 6 ~ Chisox 4

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Cory Lidle didn't do anything different, except win.


Wearing a protective covering on the leg he fractured, Jermaine Dye grounds out in his first at bat of the season.


Lidle (1-3) got off to a shaky start but worked through seven innings as the Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4 Friday night.


Lidle allowed two runs -- one earned -- on five hits, matching his career high with eight strikeouts. After going 13-6 last season, he won for the first time in five outings this year.


Ramon Hernandez homered twice and Terrence Long added a two-run shot, giving the A's a major league-leading 35 home runs this season.


"I didn't try to hit home runs or anything," Hernandez said. "I just got lucky tonight."


Jim Mecir allowed a two-run homer to Mark Johnson with two outs in the ninth, but Billy Koch retired Kenny Lofton on a groundout with a runner on for his fifth save in seven chances.


Jermaine Dye, activated from the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day, was in the A's lineup for the first time this season and went 0-for-4.

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Game 2

The A's hit 4 homeruns and score 7 runs in the 3rd inning to chase starter Mark Buerle.

A's lead 9-1 after 3

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BOO-YEAH !!! OAKLAND BUSTS OUT THE WHUPPIN' STICK

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=220427111

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- The homer-happy Oakland Athletics made Mike Fyhrie's job easy.

Scott Hatteberg, Terrence Long, Carlos Pena and Frank Menechino all homered in a seven-run third inning as the Oakland Athletics routed the Chicago White Sox 16-1 Saturday.
Olmedo Saenz added another home run in the eighth inning. The A's have homered in 14 straight games and lead the majors with 40 home runs.
"We put it to them," Fyhrie said. "It's a lot easier to pitch with that than in a one-run, two-run game."
Fyhrie, called up to replace Mark Mulder in Athletics' rotation, allowed one run on four hits over a career-high seven innings for his first major league victory.
Fyhrie (1-1) made seven starts for Anaheim in 1999 but did not earn a win. He made 51 relief appearances between starts.
"I finally got it," he said afterward, displaying the ball in his locker.
The four-homer inning matched the franchise record. The last time the A's hit as many was Aug. 1, 1999, against Tampa Bay.
Hatteberg hit a solo home run, Long added a three-run shot to right and Pena hit another solo homer off Mark Buehrle (4-2). Menechino added a two-run home run on Michael Porzio's first pitch in relief to give the A's a 9-1 lead.
"It was a lot of fun to see everybody getting good at-bats over and over," Pena said. "You become a fan watching your teammates crushing the ball."
The White Sox have dropped eight straight against the A's dating to last season.
"Every now and then you run into somebody who has your number," Chicago manager Jerry Manuel said. "We haven't played well here. We haven't pitched. We haven't hit.
"We're happy we don't have to come here often."
Oakland's Jermaine Dye got his first hit since coming off the disabled list Friday, going 1-for-4.
Dye, who was rehabbing a broken left leg, went 0-for-4 Friday night in a victory over the White Sox. He fouled a ball off his leg in Game 4 of the playoffs last season against the New York Yankees.
Except for Dye, every batter in Oakland's lineup contributed an RBI. Collectively, the A's had 19 hits.
Buehrle, who won his first four starts of the season, allowed eight runs on nine hits through 2 2-3 innings.
The A's went up 1-0 in the first when Eric Chavez's sacrifice fly scored Menechino, who walked.
The White Sox tied it in the second with Magglio Ordonez's solo home run into the left-field seats.
The A's went ahead in the bottom half. Pena singled with two out, went to third on Jeremy Giambi's hit to left field, and scored on Buehrle's wild pitch.
After their seven-run third, the A's added two more runs in the fourth. Ramon Hernandez's sacrifice fly scored Miguel Tejada, and Giambi had an RBI double.
Long added an RBI groundout in the seventh. He finished 2-for-5 with four RBI.
Saenz, who came in as a defensive replacement for Pena in the top of the eighth, homered in the bottom half off Damaso Marte. Chavez added a two-run double and Tejada had and RBI single.
Chicago's Paul Konerko doubled in the sixth inning, extending his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games.
Mulder, who won 21 games for the A's last season, remained on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left forearm.

Game notes
Frank Thomas needs two more home runs to match Lee May's 354 home runs for 58th place on the all-time list. ... Buehrle was vying to become Chicago's first five-game winner in April since Wilson Alvarez went 5-0 in 1994. ... Long has two homers in as many days. ... Pena leads all rookies with seven home runs this season. ... OF David Justice remained out of the A's lineup for a third game because of a moderate right groin strain.

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The hits just keep on coming
A's 10- Chisox 0 Game 3

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=220428111

The A's outscored Chicago 35-5 in the three game series.

Its a tradition to smash a cream filled pie in the face of an A's player while he is doing his post game interview. Today Tim Hudson was ready. He had two giant body gaurds tackle Billy Koch as he came for Hudson and quite a wrestling match ensued. Tim never got to taste the pie.

Sox leadoff hitter Kenny Loften never reached base during the series.

Oakland has hit at least one homerun in 15 straight games. The Oakland A's record is 23 in 1996.

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GAME NOTES

Carlos Pena singled home a run in the fifth and Chavez hit a three-run homer off Bob Howry in the sixth.< ^Notes:@ White Sox DH Frank Thomas is 4-for-29 in his last seven games, including a 1-for-12 against the A's. ... Giambi extended his on-base streak to 28 games, dating to last year, when he walked in the first. ... Hudson has never lost three in a row in his career and his .732 career winning percentage (52-19) is the highest in the majors since 1900. ... The A's have homered in 15 straight games and lead the majors with 41. ... The 1992 A's also started the season 15-10. ... Ritchie started his 96th career game on Sunday, two more than the rest of the White Sox rotation combined. ... A's LHP Mark Mulder threw 75 pitches off the mound before the game and hopes to be able to start Saturday's game in his hometown, Chicago. ... A's 2B Randy Velarde is expected to begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Sacramento on Monday. ... Chicago SS Royce Clayton extended his errorless streak to 54 games, the longest current streak at that position in the AL.