A's Giants post victories

CHICAGO - Cliff Pennington's swing had been off and he'd been limited for two games because of an infected sweat gland under his arm.

Entering with a .160 average and batting out of the No. 9 hole, Pennington faced a difficult situation in the ninth inning. The Oakland Athletics had scored but still trailed the Chicago White Sox by two. And now the bases were loaded with two outs.

Facing struggling closer Matt Thornton, Pennington delivered. He dropped a two-run single into center and the A's added three more in the 10th for a 7-4 victory.

"Matt Thornton on the mound throwing 97 miles per hour, I just tried to get a fastball I could hit and it fell in," Pennington said.

"That's what we have to do offensively - scratch and claw."

With the White Sox leading 4-1 in the ninth, Chris Sale gave up a leadoff double to Conor Jackson, an RBI single to Josh Willingham and a single to Hideki Matsui. Jesse Crain came on and walked pinch-hitter Daric Barton to load the bases before fanning Kurt Suzuki.

Thornton then struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Sweeney for the second out but couldn't get the ball past Pennington.

"I guess it's made news that those guys have been struggling a little bit, but you're bringing in Sale, Thornton and Crain out of the bullpen, those guys are all nasty and they've been nasty for a while," Pennington said. "They're going to be a really good bullpen, we're just trying to scratch a few runs across any way we can."

Coco Crisp entered in the ninth as a pinch runner and was in a 3-for-22 slump before singling off Thornton (0-2) to give the A's the lead in the 10th. The hit came right after Thornton - who is 0 for 4 on save opportunities this season - walked Jackson and Willingham.

Barton followed with a two-run single and Thornton was booed as he walked off the mound after being replaced by Tony Pena.

Giants 4, Dodgers 3

SAN FRANCISCO - Pablo Sandoval hit a tying solo home run in the sixth inning and last-minute fill-in Mike Fontenot connected two batters later, leading the San Francisco Giants past the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night.

Fontenot's two-out drive to the arcade in right-center off Ted Lilly (0-2) just did it for winning pitcher Jonathan Sanchez, who struck out a season-best nine in six innings. Sanchez has 24 Ks over his first three starts.

Aaron Miles had a go-ahead RBI double in the top of the sixth among his three hits for his first multihit game of 2011, but the Dodgers' 3-2 lead didn't last long.

Sanchez (1-1) remained poised after allowing a two-run homer to Rod Barajas in the fourth that tied the game at 2.

It was Barajas' third homer of the year and second in this three-game series the Giants won.

Sanchez is 5-2 with a 1.64 ERA and 72 strikeouts dating to last Aug. 30. A 13-game winner in 2010, the 28-year-old lefty is also 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA and 38 strikeouts to only six walks over his past four outings against Los Angeles.

Closer Brian Wilson pitched a perfect ninth for the second straight night for his second save in three chances.

San Francisco (6-6) has played six one-run games already, going 4-2 - all four of the wins were come-from-behind victories on this homestand.