CHICAGO -- Everything was going just fine for the Oakland Athletics. DeMarcus Ware Jersey . And then? "The circus came to town," Josh Donaldson said. Thats one way to look at it. Avisail Garcia drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the eighth inning, and the Chicago White Sox beat the struggling Athletics 2-1 on Wednesday night. Oakland was in line for the win after Jeff Samardzija threw seven scoreless innings, and Adam Dunn singled in a run against his former team. Instead, the As lost for the 10th time in 13 games because the bullpen failed again to protect a lead. Luke Gregerson (4-4) came on in the eighth, and things quickly fell apart. It was the third time in four games that the Athletics relievers blew a lead. Gregerson gave up a leadoff single to Carlos Sanchez, and first baseman Nate Freiman threw wildly trying to force pinch-runner Leury Garcia at second after fielding Adam Eatons grounder. The runners moved to second and third with one out when Gregerson bounced an 0-2 pitch to Jose Abreu before striking him out. He intentionally walked Conor Gillaspie to load the bases, and Garcia lined a pitch up the middle for a two-run single that made it 2-1. The late rally made a winner of Zach Putnam (5-3), who pitched a scoreless inning. Jake Petricka worked the ninth for his 12th save in 15 chances. "It does a lot for us," Eaton said. "It really does. We want to show were not dead. The White Sox are here to stay. We want to be better next year, and were going to continue to push to be better. It starts with this month." Samardzija looked sharp in his first start in Chicago since the Cubs traded him to Oakland on July 5. He gave up six hits, struck out six and walked two. "They made me battle out there, a leadoff walk, a couple of leadoff hits," Samardzija said. "So I was really grinding out there." White Sox rookie Chris Bassitt was almost as good. In his second major league start, the right-hander gave up one run and five hits. He left to loud cheers after Derek Norris led off the seventh with a broken-bat single. Dunn, recently acquired from the White Sox, gave Oakland a 1-0 lead with two out in the fourth when he drove in Coco Crisp with a single past a diving Gillaspie at third. It looked as though that would be enough before the game turned in the eighth. TRAINERS ROOM Athletics: C John Jaso remains out indefinitely with a concussion after visiting a specialist on Wednesday. Oakland manager Bob Melvin was hoping he would be cleared to return after seeing Dr. Micky Collins in Pittsburgh. Instead, Melvin said Jaso will return to Oakland and stay away from baseball activities for at least a few days. ... Closer Sean Doolittle appears close to returning from a strained muscle in the rib area. He threw a side session Wednesday, and Melvin said he could be activated on Friday. ... OF Craig Gentry was improving but still was feeling symptoms after leaving Tuesdays game with a concussion, Melvin said. White Sox: Retiring slugger Paul Konerko hopes to return from a broken bone in his left hand next week. He said he might take some swings on Friday and hit some balls over the weekend. He thinks he will be ready to play during a nine-game trip to Kansas City, Tampa Bay and Detroit that starts next week. UP NEXT Chris Sale (11-3, 2.09 ERA) starts for Chicago, while Scott Kazmir (14-7, 3.42) pitches for Oakland as the White Sox and Athletics wrap up their four-game series. Kazmir got back on track in his last start even though he didnt figure in the decision, allowing three runs in 6 1-3 innings after giving up 13 runs in his previous two outings. FOR THE HIGHLIGHT REEL Donaldson made a terrific grab at third when he leaped to his left to snag Gillaspies liner in the fourth inning, and White Sox left fielder Jordan Danks made a neat catch in the seventh when he raced in and dove to rob Jed Lowrie. Dennis Smith Youth Jersey . Rico dove horizontally to meet Andoni Iraolas precise long cross from the right to score his second league goal of the season in the 33rd minute. Two minutes later, Aritz Aduriz netted Bilbaos second when he raced forward and pounced on a poor clearance by Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio, sending a low shot rolling past goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo. Dalton Risner Jersey . The 30-year-old Kottaras served as Kansas Citys backup catcher last season after being claimed off waivers from Oakland in January. http://www.broncosrookiestore.com/Broncos-Von-Miller-Jersey/ .The Toronto Raptors guard, who will represent the Eastern Conference at the All-Star Game in New Orleans on Sunday, says he doesnt complain in the face of adversity "because I know this little girl is just happy for anything.ANAHEIM, Calif. - A day after the Los Angeles Angels partied into the wee hours to celebrate their AL West title, a lineup composed of backups, Triple-A regulars, and a spot starter took on Felix Hernandez and the desperate Seattle Mariners. And for eight innings, the Angels junior varsity looked ready to pull out an unlikely win. Instead, Logan Morrison hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth, and Seattle boosted its AL wild-card hopes with a 3-1 victory Thursday night. With late night celebrations still ringing in their ears, several Angels got Thursday off, including Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Howie Kendrick, Kole Calhoun and Erick Aybar. Manager Mike Scioscia also scratched ace Jered Weaver and handed the ball to Wade LeBlanc, who matched zeros with Hernandez into the sixth inning. "I think it just sets some things up for what we want to do in our rotation moving forward this next week, and then getting ready for the first playoff series," Scioscia said. "It gives us the best shot to hopefully win the best record. It was something we felt strongly about doing, and Wade came through." LeBlanc pitched three-hit ball in his second start for the major league-leading Angels, who are still playing for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Their lead over Baltimore for the majors best record is down to 2 1-2 games. The Angels pulled Weaver about six hours before game time, pushing his next start back to Saturday to put him in line to start the AL division series opener on Oct. 2. LeBlanc significantly improved on his only previous start for the Angels, a 7-1 loss to Miami on Aug. 25. LeBlanc cleared waivers and returned for the Angels post-season push, making five solid relief appearances before striking out three Mariners and walking none. "Thats the life of a swingman, or a long reliever, or a spot starter," LeBlanc said. "Ive been fortunate to do that in the ppast, so it wasnt anything new. DreMont Jones Youth Jersey. Anytime they want to give me the ball, Im ready for it." Hernandez struck out 11 during seven innings of three-hit ball as the Mariners pulled within one game of the slumping Oakland Athletics for the second AL wild-card spot. Seattle still had to sweat out its third win in nine games, ending a 17-inning scoreless stretch with Morrisons ninth homer. "Words cant describe that feeling," Morrison said. "I just know were in a race, and we need every hit we can get. We need every run we can get. We need every win we can get. Weve had some offensive struggles lately, but weve got a bunch of guys that dont know how to quit." After Kendrys Morales singled and pinch-runner James Jones advanced on a bad pickoff throw by Kevin Jepsen (0-2), Morrison deposited a belt-high changeup into the left-field stands. "We had to lure them into a false sense of security," Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said with a grin. "Everybody thinks thats easy (to face a lineup of unknowns)," McClendon added. "Thats scary. Its hard to prepare. You read scouting reports, but you havent had firsthand competition against them, so that makes it tough." Tom Wilhelmsen (3-2) escaped a bases-loaded jam of his own making in the eighth. Fernando Rodney allowed Hank Congers homer in the ninth before finishing his 46th save, passing Kazuhiro Sasaki for the most in a single season in club history. TRAINERS ROOM Angels: Cleanup hitter Josh Hamilton has a new pain in his upper body, and he sat out for the 13th time in 14 games. Scioscia hopes the injury is minor. UP NEXT Mariners: Taijuan Walker (1-2, 2.96) travelled early to Houston to prepare for the opener of a key series against Brad Peacock and the Astros. Angels: Hector Santiago (5-8, 3.55) opens Los Angeles final home series against the Texas Rangers and Lisalverto Bonilla. ' ' '