OAKLAND, Calif. -- Forget about style points. After going 78-86 last year, the Chicago White Sox were happy to get an Opening Day win any way they could Monday against the Oakland A's.

Left-hander Chris Sale allowed three runs on seven hits over seven innings and struck out eight, lifting the White Sox to a 4-3 victory at the Oakland Coliseum.

The White Sox led 4-3 after three innings and held on for the win.

"It's not always pretty, but it was good," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said.

Sale, who walked only one, gave up three runs in the bottom of the third after the White Sox scored four times in the top of the inning.

"You put some runs on the board, you try to go out there for that shutdown inning," Sale said. "You try to do a little too much. I held it together. Thankfully we got out of it.

"I think (the win is) huge. We've got music playing, we've got smiles. We're just having fun. You get the first one, it's like the first strike of the game. Once you get the first strike of the game, you get the first win of the year, you can kind of exhale a little bit and go from there."

Adam Eaton went 2-for-3 with an RBI triple and scored a run for the White Sox. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run in his White Sox debut.

Jed Lowrie went 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs for the A's, while Billy Butler had two doubles in three at-bats.

A's right-hander Sonny Gray was slated to face Sale in a battle of American League aces, but Gray was scratched because of food poisoning. Left-hander Rich Hill, Oakland's No. 2 starter, pitched in Gray's place.

Making his A's debut and first career Opening Day start, Hill gave up four runs (two earned) on three hits over 2 2/3 innings. Hill hit two batters, including Eaton with his first pitch of the game, struck out three and walked one.

"It was an honor to be able to have the opportunity to start on Opening Day," Hill said. "Just solely falls on me, the inability to go deeper in the game for us to not come out on the top in that one."

After giving up three runs in the third, Sale blanked Oakland the next four innings on three hits. Jake Petricka, Zach Duke and Nate Jones combined to pitch a scoreless eighth for Chicago.

Closer David Robertson pitched a scoreless ninth despite issuing a leadoff walk to Coco Crisp.

Oakland's revamped bullpen held the White Sox scoreless for 6 1/3 innings. Fernando Rodriguez, Ryan Dull, John Axford, Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle combined to allow just three hits in that span.

"They were terrific," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "Against a guy like Sale, you have an inning like that off of him and you get close, now you know you're probably going to have to be pretty close to perfect, especially with Robertson at the end, and they were."

Eaton said he didn't hear about Gray being scratched until after he arrived at the Coliseum in the afternoon.

"It's tough because you mentally prepare for Sonny Gray," Eaton said. "All day yesterday we prepared for him. ... And when you go right-handed to left-handed, especially as a left-handed hitter, now I've got to change the approach. I've got to make sure I watch some film on him. This is the first time I've ever seen him."

The White Sox knocked Hill out of the game in the third inning, scoring four times.

Austin Jackson walked with one out, and Eaton brought him home with a triple to center field. Rollins blooped an RBI single to right, making it 2-0.

Jose Abreu lined a double to left, moving Rollins to third. After Hill struck out Todd Frazier, shortstop Marcus Semien got to Melky Cabrera's ground ball up the middle, but two more runs scored on an error by first baseman Mark Canha, who couldn't catch the throw, which was a little high.

In the bottom of the third, Vogt had a one-out infield single, Semien walked, and both runners advanced on Billy Burns' groundout. Lowrie lined a two-run single to right, and he scored on Danny Valencia's single to center.

NOTES: A's RHP Sonny Gray, who was scratched from his scheduled start because of food poisoning, spent a few hours at a hospital emergency room Monday morning, receiving an IV and anti-vomiting medication, A's trainer Nick Paparesta said. Gray played catch Monday at the Coliseum but is now scheduled to start Wednesday against the White Sox after RHP Chris Bassitt starts Tuesday. ... A's LHP Felix Doubront, Oakland's No. 5 starter, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with an injury to his left ulnar collateral ligament, and surgery is a possibility due to fibrous tearing, Paparesta said. ... Oakland recalled OF Andrew Lambo from Triple-A Nashville. ... Jimmy Rollins, 37, became the oldest Opening Day starting shortstop for the White Sox since Luke Appling (42) in 1949.