Wild Card roundup: Chris Sale, White Sox shut down fading Athletics

Their chances of winning the A.L. West have pretty much slipped away. Now, the Oakland Athletics need to score some runs before they lose a playoff spot altogether.

The A’s continued their free-fall Thursday, when Chris Sale bested Scott Kazmir in a brilliant pitchers’ duel, light-hitting Marcus Semien homered for the only run and the host Chicago White Sox won 1-0.

The A’s lost for the 11th time in 14 games. Their lead in the A.L. wild-card race dwindled to one game over Detroit and 1 1/2 over Seattle, both of which were idle.

“We’re playing for our lives now,” manager Bob Melvin conceded. “I mean, that’s just the way it is. We put ourselves in this position.”

Once leading the division, the A’s began the day nine games behind the Los Angeles Angels. Oakland starts a three-game showdown in Seattle tonight.

Facing Sale, Oakland posed its only threat in the eighth, when Jed Lowrie singled and Alberto Callaspo drew a two-out walk. Coco Crisp bounced out to end the inning.

Sale (12-3) gave up two hits in eight innings, both of them singles to Lowrie. Between the hits, the All-Star left-hander retired 17 batters in order. He struck out nine and walked two.

“Right up there,” Lowrie said when asked where Sale ranked among starting pitchers. “Off-hand, I can’t give you a number, but he’s one of the better ones in the game.”

Yet the Athletics have had to tip their caps too many times since the All-Star break. They’ve scored more than three runs only 15 times in the 39 games since slugger Yoenis Cespedes was traded to Boston on July 31.

Semien hit a leadoff homer in the sixth into the left-field bleachers.

Kazmir (14-8) went the distance, striking out seven.

Red Sox 6, Royals 3: Last-place Boston took advantage of three critical errors by first-place Kansas City, pulling away late in Kansas City, Missouri, to end a four-game losing streak.

Kansas City’s advantage in the A.L. Central dropped to a half-game over idle Detroit.

Liam Hendriks (1-2) failed to last three innings while making a spot start for left-hander Danny Duffy, who is shelved with shoulder soreness. The Royals’ defense didn’t do Hendriks any favors, making all three errors in the first four frames.