CHICAGO -- Lawrence Butler wasted no time.

The A¡¯s outfielder lined a single to right on the fourth pitch of Saturday night¡¯s 7-6 loss to the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, off a four-seam fastball from Chicago starter Chris Flexen.

Butler¡¯s knock extended his career-best hitting streak to 22 games, which matched Eric Byrnes (2003) for the fourth-longest streak in Oakland A¡¯s history.

Before Andrew Benintendi¡¯s walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning evened the series, Butler reached base four times, going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks. That included a free pass to lead off the ninth, kick-starting a three-run game-tying A¡¯s rally.

Butler scored one of Oakland¡¯s runs in the final inning.

¡°Lawrence is really locked in,¡± manager Mark Kotsay said. ¡°He¡¯s really having fun playing the game right now and leading this team as the leadoff guy. It¡¯s fun to watch.¡±

Longest hitting streaks by Oakland A¡¯s players

Jason Giambi, 25 games (May 12-June 23, 1997)
Miguel Tejada, 24 games (July 11-Aug. 4, 2002)
Carney Lansford, 24 games (July 27-Aug. 21, 1984)
Lawrence Butler, 22 games (Aug. 21, 2024-present)
Eric Byrnes, 22 games (May 8-June 1, 2003)

Butler was one month shy of his third birthday when Byrnes¡¯ streak ended in 2003. Butler turned 2 years old during Tejada¡¯s streak, and Giambi and Lansford¡¯s both happened before he was born. Now 24, Butler is closing in on history.

¡°Those guys are Hall of Famers with the A's,¡± Butler said. ¡°To be mentioned with those guys, that¡¯s a huge deal.¡±

Butler has logged a .378/.417/.733 slash line during his streak. He¡¯s gone 34-for-90 with eight doubles, eight homers and 15 RBIs. It¡¯s one chapter to what has been a strong first full season in the Major Leagues.

In 114 games, Butler is slashing .272/.327/.516 with 23 doubles, 21 homers and 55 RBIs. He¡¯s stolen 15 bases, putting a 20-20 campaign within his reach. The last A¡¯s player to pull off that feat was Coco Crisp in 2013 (22 homers, 21 steals).

¡°That¡¯s probably the only thing I think about right now, is just getting those five more bags,¡± a beaming Butler said of stealing 20 bases.

But Butler is not being reckless to get there. He¡¯s a perfect 15-for-15 in stolen-bases attempts this season, after swiping second in the first inning on Saturday. The most stolen bases in Oakland Athletics history without a caught stealing is 16, set by Jimmy Sexton in 1982.

¡°I¡¯m really just picking my spots. I¡¯m not just out there running recklessly,¡± Butler said. ¡°I'm choosing when to go. I'm doing a little research. [First-base coach] Bobby Crosby helps me out a lot with what the catchers are like, what the pitchers like to do.

¡°So I give a lot of credit to him, too.¡±

Butler pulled off a delayed steal on Saturday for No. 15. As Flexen threw JJ Bleday an 0-2 changeup for a ball, Butler side-shuffled off of first and took off as the pitch reached catcher Chuckie Robinson¡¯s mitt. It seemingly caught Robinson by surprise.

Butler¡¯s discipline also extends to his approach at the plate. He¡¯s had a noticeable drop in his strikeout rate during his hitting streak.

Butler's strikeout totals

Before streak: 92 games, 81 strikeouts in 308 plate appearances (26.3 percent rate)
During streak: 22 games, 13 strikeouts in 96 plate appearances (13.5 percent rate)

¡°In the leadoff spot, I'm really just trying to put the ball in play,¡± Butler said. ¡°Most leadoff hitters really don't strike out that much. I'm really just trying to put the ball in play, have good at-bats and get on base for my team.¡±

The A¡¯s had a chance to take the lead in the ninth. Butler scored when White Sox third baseman Lenyn Sosa made a fielding error on a grounder hit by Shea Langeliers, who reached first as Bleday, who had walked, advanced to second. Both then moved up 90 feet on Seth Brown¡¯s ensuing single.

Zack Gelof followed with another base hit, as part of his 3-for-4 night. Bleday scored, but left fielder Zach DeLoach threw out Langeliers at the plate. The play was confirmed after a review, which also determined that catcher Robinson did not block the plate after landing from his leap to snare DeLoach¡¯s throw.

¡°During the ninth inning, we put together a good rally,¡± Kotsay said. ¡°We ran ourselves kind of out of that inning by making an out at home with no outs. Outside of that, it¡¯s a great effort by the offense to come back.

¡°Tonight, we were a little shorthanded in the ¡®pen. Some guys did step up. [We] just couldn¡¯t get it done.¡±