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CHICAGO (Ticker) -- James Baldwin extended his winning streak, preventing Kevin Appier from maintaining his success against the Chicago White Sox. Baldwin allowed two runs over six innings and Carlos Lee had three hits and four RBI as the White Sox defeated the Oakland Athletics, 7-2. Baldwin (9-11) completed a 5-0 August. He walked three and struck out seven as Chicago snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Athletics. Baldwin's lone no-decision this month came at Oakland on August 8. "He believes somewhere that he was a second-half pitcher," said White Sox manager Jerry Manuel. "I've said it before, we're trying to send him the message that you have to be ready at the beginning of the season. It doesn't mean you have to win every game, but you have to give us a chance to win." "I don't know, you tell me," said Baldwin, who is 15-5 after the All-Star break the last two seasons. "I think in the first half, I tried to do too much and that was one of my downfalls. I want to win every ballgame, I think I put too much pressure on myself. ... I'm my own worst enemy." Lee had an RBI single in the second, a run-scoring infield hit in the third and a two-run single in the fifth. The rookie outfielder drove in four runs for the third time this season and pushed his total to 65 RBI. Appier (12-12) was 4-0 against the White Sox this season, winning three decisions while pitching for the Kansas City Royals. But Appier, who has lost three straight starts, was tagged for seven runs and eight hits in four-plus innings. The A's fell one game behind Boston for the American League wild card berth and lost for only the third time in their last 10 road games. "You can't worry how good Boston is playing," said A's left fielder Ben Grieve. "Eventually, they're going to run up against somebody that's hot and lose a couple of games." "It was a good series, we took two out of three, we'll take that anytime," added Oakland manager Art Howe. "We're going to New York and hopefully we'll split with the Yankees. That's the way we want it, you don't want to back into anything. If we're going to win this thing and get into the playoffs, we're going to earn it." Oakland took a 1-0 lead in the second when Matt Stairs belted his 30th homer. The A's further rattled Baldwin by loading the bases, but Randy Velarde bounced into an inning-ending forceout. The White Sox got back the run in the bottom of the frame. Chris Singleton singled, stole second and scored on a single by Lee. Grieve gave the A's a 2-1 lead in the third with an RBI double, but Magglio Ordonez had a run-scoring double and Lee topped a ball down the third-base line that died in fair territory to score Frank Thomas as the White Sox went ahead, 3-2. Chicago chased Appier in the fifth. Ordonez doubled, Paul Konerko walked and Singleton dropped a bunt single before Lee lined a 1-0 pitch to center field, plating Ordonez and Konerko to make it 5-2. Singleton scored when center fielder Rich Becker threw wildly to third. Lee ended up at third and scored when Greg Norton greeted Mike Oquist with a single. "That's what you have to do, you can't go up to the plate with the idea of hitting a home run," said Lee, who homered in the first two games of the series. "You'll end up giving an at-bat away. So you go out there, try and hit the ball hard and whatever happens, happens." Sean Lowe scattered three hits over 1 1/3 innings before Keith Foulke retired all five batters he faced for his seventh save in 10 chances.
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