Tyler Soderstrom hit two homers and drove in a career-high six runs and Shea Langeliers also homered, doubled and drove in two runs to lead the visiting Athletics to a 12-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox in the opening game of a three-game series on Tuesday night.
Soderstrom took over the major league home run lead (eight) with the third multi-homer game of his career. He also joined Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson (1974) as the only players in A’s history to have three multi-home run games in the first 17 games of a season.
Soderstrom and Langeliers each finished with three hits, and Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker also had two hits for the Athletics, who outhit the White Sox 13-6.
Jeffrey Springs (3-1) picked up the win for the A’s, allowing three runs on three hits over five innings. He walked three and struck out four. Mitch Spence pitched the final three innings and allowed two hits to garner his first save.
Andrew Vaughn hit a three-run homer and Lenyn Sosa had two hits and a run scored for Chicago, which suffered its second straight loss. Sean Burke (1-3) suffered the loss, allowing five runs on six hits over 3 1/3 innings. He walked two and also struck out two.
The Athletics took a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Butler led off with a single, advanced to third on a hit-and-run single by Rooker and scored when Soderstrom drilled a three-run homer to right-center.
Chicago tied it 3-3 in the bottom of the first on Vaughn’s homer over the bullpen in left field, driving in Miguel Vargas, who had doubled, and Sosa, who had walked.
The A’s regained the lead, 4-3, in the second on a double off the bottom of the center field wall by Gio Urshela. That scored Jacob Wilson, who had singled.
Langeliers made it 5-3 when he led off the third with his fourth home run, a 409-foot drive that curled around the left field foul pole.
The A’s then broke open the game with a four-run sixth — highlighted by Butler’s RBI double and Soderstrom’s second three-run homer of the night, a 423-foot blast deep into the bleachers in right.
The Athletics added three more runs in the ninth off reliever Mike Clevinger — highlighted by Langeliers’ RBI double off the top of the left field fence.
