CHICAGO (AP) — Chase Meidroth hit an RBI double in the sixth inning, five pitchers combined on a four-hitter and the Chicago White Sox sent the Athletics to their eighth straight loss with a 1-0 victory Saturday.
The A's, on their longest skid since dropping nine straight from May 27 to June 4 last year, have lost 12 of 13 and fell to 41-54.
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Athletics pitcher Gage Jump shows the ball against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky goes No. 1 overall to the Chicago White Sox during the 2026 MLB Draft shown on the scoreboard before a baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and the Athletics Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
Chicago White Sox's Colson Montgomery, left, is safe at home plate as Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers, right, stands nearby during the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery, right, and second baseman Chase Meidroth, left, celebrate after a baseball game against the Athletics, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery, left, and first baseman Miguel Vargas, right, celebrate their win against the Athletics in a baseball game Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
Chicago clinched winning a home series for the 11th time in its last 12.
Bulk reliever Erick Fedde (5-6), the third Chicago pitcher, allowed two hits over four innings and Grant Taylor got five outs for his fourth save. Bryan Hudson pitched the first and Chris Murphy the second.
Meidroth and Luis Acuña each had two of Chicago's five hits.
Gage Jump (3-4) allowed one run and five hits in 5 2/3 innings in his ninth start since he was brought up from Triple-A on May 26. The rookie left-hander struck out seven and walked two.
Meidroth’s two-out double scored Colson Montgomery, who had walked.
Joshua Koruda-Grauer had two hits, including a double, and is 18 for 41 over his first 11 games in the majors.
A's first baseman Nick Kurtz, who had been slated to start Tuesday's All-Star Game, was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Friday with a right thumb capsule sprain.
Athletics RHP J.T. Ginn (7-5, 3.10 ERA) faces White Sox LHP Noah Schultz (2-6, 6.00) on Sunday.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Athletics pitcher Gage Jump shows the ball against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky goes No. 1 overall to the Chicago White Sox during the 2026 MLB Draft shown on the scoreboard before a baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and the Athletics Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
Chicago White Sox's Colson Montgomery, left, is safe at home plate as Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers, right, stands nearby during the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery, right, and second baseman Chase Meidroth, left, celebrate after a baseball game against the Athletics, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery, left, and first baseman Miguel Vargas, right, celebrate their win against the Athletics in a baseball game Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Expected to go as the first pick in the amateur draft, Roch Cholowsky submitted a video to Major League Baseball with the correct pronunciation of his last name.
For the record, the name is pronounced chil-OW’-skee.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred still botched the pronunciation of Cholowsky’s name at the podium Saturday when the Chicago White Sox indeed made the UCLA shortstop the No. 1 pick of the draft.
No harm done, Cholowsky insisted.
“I didn't hear it get butchered,” Cholowsky said. “I heard Roch and kind of lost it.”
Cholowsky burst into tears at a draft party far from the Philadelphia site of the draft.
He led off the lineup of MLB draft prospects who did not show up at the city’s convention center, just a few miles away from Citizens Bank Park, the home of Tuesday’s All-Star Game. MLB said Friday that no amateur players were scheduled to attend the draft, just like last year.
Cholowsky was thrilled he'll be headed to Chicago, where he enjoyed a fruitful predraft meeting with team officials and mingled in the clubhouse of a team that has been perhaps the biggest surprise in baseball and entered Saturday in first place in the AL Central.
“It really felt like to me like a college clubhouse," Cholowsky said. “It’s just a different feel in there.”
A 6-foot-2 right-handed hitter, Cholowsky was a Golden Spikes finalist at UCLA and had a 1.088 OPS with 21 homers and 60 RBIs in his junior season. He was the Big Ten Player of the Year.
White Sox general manager Chris Getz said in a statement that Cholowsky "is a leader on the field as well as in the clubhouse. He has more than lived up to very high expectations, and we cannot wait to get him into our organization, get started and see him continue his growth and success.”
The next two picks went about as widely predicted.
Tampa Bay selected Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson with the second pick and Minnesota took Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey third.
Just 18 years old, the 6-3, 185-pound Emerson bats left, throws right and is widely considered the best all-around player in the draft. A University of Texas commit, Emerson transferred to Fort Worth Christian for his senior year, when he played under head coach Rusty Greer, a nine-year MLB veteran who spent nine seasons with the Texas Rangers.
The 21-year-old Lackey didn’t receive any Division I offers until his senior year of high school and has since blossomed into one of the top catching prospects in the draft out of Georgia Tech. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder showed some versatility by also playing third base.
San Francisco selected right-handed pitcher Jackson Flora — a noted fried chicken aficionado — out of UC Santa Barbara with the No. 4 pick. The Pirates took outfielder Derek Curiel from LSU with the fifth pick. Louisville outfielder Zion Rose went sixth to Kansas City and Oak Grove High School (Mississippi) outfielder Eric Booth Jr. went seventh to Baltimore.
The Athletics drafted Georgia Tech outfielder Drew Burress with the eighth pick, Atlanta took Virginia outfielder AJ Gracia with the ninth pick and Colorado selected Kentucky shortstop Tyler Bell 10th.
There were just three pitchers selected among the first 20 overall.
Phillies fans cheered the 34th overall pick in the draft when the White Sox drafted high school star Landon Thome.
The Nazareth Academy (Illinois) infielder is the son of former Phillies, White Sox and Cleveland great and baseball Hall of Famer Jim Thome.
Jim Thome helped changed the perception of the Phillies from long-time losers to championship contenders when he left Cleveland and signed a six-year, $85 million contract with Philly ahead of the 2003 season.
The 18-year-old Thome went two picks before the Phillies drafted California high school shortstop Tyler Spangler with the 36th pick — and sent the bulk of the fans fleeing for the exits.
The Marlins selected shortstop Jacob Lombard with the No. 14 pick. Lombard is the son of Detroit Tigers bench coach George Lombard Sr and younger brother of top Yankees prospect George Lombard Jr.
The Brewers took high school shortstop Trey Ebel with the 25th pick. He is the brother of Brady Ebel, whom they drafted with the 32nd selection last year. Their father is Los Angeles Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel — expected to pitch to Phillies slugger Bryce Harper in the Home Run Derby on Monday night.
With former White Sox and Phillies players Jimmy Rollins and Greg Luzinski on hand to rally hundreds of fans at the draft, Chicago had the top selection for the first time since taking Harold Baines in 1977.
Baines was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
The White Sox, who the No. 1 pick after they lost 102 games last season and won the draft lottery, have pegged Cholowsky as a future star that can help them win their first World Series title since 2005.
Led by All-Star third baseman Miguel Vargas, the White Sox have emerged as one of the top surprises and entered Saturday in first place in the AL Central after enduring three straight 100-loss seasons.
“It's definitely a lot more motivation to get up there and join those guys at some point,” Cholowsky said. “Being part of a contending team is pretty cool. I value winning a lot.”
Cholowsky is the first collegiate shortstop to go No. 1 overall since Vanderbilt’s Dansby Swanson in 2015 and was UCLA’s first No. 1 draft pick since Gerrit Cole in 2011.
No players in Saturday's draft went to the podium after their name was called.
Major League Baseball has weaved the idea of forcing players to attend into negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. MLB proposed requiring up to 10 prospects to attend the draft, and each would get a $50,000 draft attendance bonus.
That meant the loudest ovation during draft festivities belonged to the Phillie Phanatic when he was introduced during mascot roll call. Phillies fans just about booed Braves mascot Blooper out of the convention center and had more jeers for Manfred.
Manfred turned the crowd reaction around before the start of the draft as he name-dropped some of the great stars in Phillies history.
There was another announcement to make inside the convention center.
“We’re going to see the arrival of tremendous talent today,” Siera Santos of MLB Network told the crowd.
Just not live in Philadelphia.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
FILE - Grady Emerson, right, a shortstop from Fort Worth Christian High School, talks with former MLB player and current baseball commentator Harold Reynolds at the MLB baseball combine in Phoenix, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky goes No. 1 overall to the Chicago White Sox during the 2026 MLB Draft shown on the scoreboard before a baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and the Athletics Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
FILE - UCLA's Roch Cholowsky reacts after hitting a home run during an NCAA baseball game against Texas Christian, Feb. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong, File)
