Oakland Pounds White Sox, 10-2

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Back in an Athletics uniform for the first time since 2011, Trevor Cahill admitted to some nerves when he took the mound for his season debut.

A five-run first inning a few minutes later was all the right-hander needed to calm down.

Cahill pitched seven scoreless innings in his season debut, Jed Lowrie marked his 34th birthday with a go-ahead home run in a five-run first inning and the the A's beat the Chicago White Sox 10-2 Tuesday night on the 50th anniversary of the A's first game at the Coliseum.

"I was just kind of mixing everything in there," Cahill said. "The curveball was kind of erratic early, and then later I was able to throw it for a strike. We started mixing in a little slider-cutter there at the end. We just kind of used a little bit of everything."

Stephen Piscotty and Jonathan Lucroy drove in three runs apiece, and Mark Canha added three hits and two RBIs. Oakland extended its winning streak to three with its first series win this season.

The game was played exactly 50 years after the A's debut at the Coliseum following their move from Kansas City, and it attracted a crowd of 46,028. Admission and parking were free, and players from both teams wore 1968 replica uniforms. The atmosphere was markedly different from a night earlier, when the announced attendance was 7,479 and the actual crowd appeared to be half that.

"It looked like the place was packed," Oakland manager Bob Mevin said. "That was the objective, and I really wanted to put on a good show for them and our guys did right away. It was great to score some runs early on and get the crowd into it. When they get into it they have a lot of fun."

Few people enjoyed the night as much as Cahill.

Cahill (1-0) signed in mid-March, made a pair of starts in the minor leagues and was brought up Tuesday for his first big league start since Aug. 9. He gave up five hits, struck out eight and walked two.

Now 30, the right-hander was a second-round draft pick of the A's in 2006 and spent his first three big league seasons in Oakland. He split time with Kansas City and San Diego last year and ended the season as a Royals reliever.

"The first one's always a little bit more nerve-racking, but I think the offense kind of helped me out, kind of get me to relax and go out there and fill up the zone," Cahill said. "I was just kind of mixing everything in there."

Yoan Moncada homered for Chicago, which has lost seven of eight.

"We're in that middle place right now where we're trying to dig ourselves out," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "I think the guys may be trying to do too much."

Lowrie hit a two-out solo homer off Miguel Gonzalez (0-3), Lowrie's first home run in Oakland this season. He is batting .351 and leads the AL with 26 hits and 18 RBIs.