2014 MLB standings: A’s drop another one-run game

The Athletics fell to 20-25 in one-run games this season with a 1-0 loss to the White Sox -- or, more accurately, Chris Sale -- on Thursday.

Sale allowed only two hits and two walks in eight scoreless innings. He struck out nine batters en route to lowering his ERA to 1.99. Since a five-walk outing against the Blue Jays on June 28 -- an outing that he won, by the way -- Sale has been the most dominant pitcher in baseball not named Clayton Kershaw.

Chris Sale 8 two-hit, shutout innings. If he's done, last 12 starts: 84.2 IP, 62 H, 108 K, 18 BB, 1.70 ERA.

— Jonah Keri (@jonahkeri) September 11, 2014

Meanwhile, the A's continue to be plagued by a combination of bad luck and poor hitting. Oakland's pythagorean record is on par with the Angels' actual record, but the A's are 9-21 in their last 30 games. Ten of those losses have come by one run. And, over that 30-game stretch, the A's have hit just .231 and averaged 3.6 runs per game after scoring 4.9 per contest from March 31 through Aug. 9.

Oakland's lead over the Tigers for the top AL Wild Card spot has been trimmed to one game, and the A's are just 1½ games in front of the division-rival Mariners.

• Bartolo Colon was ejected in the fourth inning of the Mets' 6-2 loss to the Nationals after hitting Jayson Werth with a pitch. It was most unfortunate for those who enjoy a good time:

you can't eject Bartolo why would you purposely deprive the world of a Bartolo at-bat

— Lana Berry (@Lana) September 12, 2014

• Marlins broadcaster Tommy Hutton went ballistic after Giancarlo Stanton and Reed Johnson were hit by consecutive pitches that were both eventually ruled strikes. Part of his tirade came while he read some tweets, one of which was presumably this one from True Blue LA's Eric Stephen, then proceeded to make the following comment on air:

"I saw from a couple of tweets ... we *know* the rule book, that if he swings it's a strike. He didn't swing. Get YOUR facts straight."