The pitching staff gave the White Sox a chance to win Tuesday’s game against the Athletics, but the lineup couldn’t come through in key situations during a 3-1 loss at Rate Field.

Brooks Baldwin put the White Sox ahead early, driving a hanging slider 407 feet for a solo home run in the third inning. But after Lenyn Sosa and Omar Narvaez reached base in the next two at-bats, Athletics starter Osvaldo Bido battled his way out of the jam.

Bido induced a soft ground ball from Miguel Vargas for an out, then got out of the inning with a fly out from Nick Maton and a popout from Luis Robert Jr. with runners on first and third. That lack of execution was a theme for the White Sox lineup Tuesday, searching for a clutch hit but failing to get one.

The White Sox finished 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position Tuesday night, a major reason for its second straight loss and one that clinched the series in the Athletics’ favor. After homering earlier, Baldwin stepped to the plate in the fourth with one out and runners on first and second, but his fly ball to the warning track was caught by JJ Bleday while colliding with the center field wall. Sosa flew out in the next at-bat, ending the threat.

White Sox pitcher Jonathan Cannon had a bounce-back start to keep the game competitive. After allowing six earned runs in his last outing, Cannon held the A’s scoreless through 4.1 innings with three hits, two walks and four strikeouts. But the A’s took the lead in the sixth off of White Sox reliever Tyler Gilbert, who allowed an RBI single to Bleday and a two-RBI triple to Gio Urshela.

Trailing by only two runs with four frames to go, the White Sox still had their chances. Michael A. Taylor ripped a two-out triple two right field in the sixth, but Chase Meidroth grounded out to end the inning.

Perhaps the best chance to overtake the A’s came in the seventh. The White Sox loaded the bases with a Sosa single and walks by Narvaez and Maton, bringing slugger Robert Jr. to the plate in a key moment. Robert Jr. hit a ground ball that forced A’s first baseman Tyler Soderstrom to stray from the bag, but A’s pitcher Tyler Ferguson won the foot race to first, recording the third out.

Mike Vasil continued to be a bright spot in the White Sox bullpen, tossing three scoreless innings with two hits and zero walks. The right-hander has begun his MLB career with 12 shoutout innings out of the bullpen.

With their third straight loss, the White Sox drop to 4-12 on the season ahead of Thursday’s 1:10 p.m. CT series finale against the Athletics.