OAKLAND, Calif. -- The wait was worth it for Sonny Gray and the Oakland A's.

The right-hander was scratched from his scheduled Opening Night start against the Chicago White Sox on Monday because of what he believed was either a nasty flu bug or food poisoning that put him in the emergency room for a few hours that morning.

Gray took the mound Wednesday night at the Coliseum and pitched seven solid innings, giving up one run on three hits in a 2-1 victory against the White Sox.

Mark Canha hit a solo home run in the second inning for the A's, who snapped their season-opening, two-game losing skid and ended Chicago's streak of six victories at the Coliseum.

Gray, who finished third in the American League Cy Young Award voting last season, struck out five, walked four and threw 97 pitches.

"I felt OK," Gray said. "Definitely didn't have my best stuff tonight. It was kind of one those games where you got to go with what starts working early and try to just keep them a little off-balance.

"You're still a little weak, but you still go out there and try to make pitches. You could tell I threw a little more off-speed pitches tonight just because I didn't have the really good fastball. My location was a little off, so I was just trying to make the ball move as much as possible."

White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon allowed two runs on seven hits over seven innings in his first start of the season. He struck out six, walked one and threw 99 pitches as his career-high, three-game winning streak ended.

Oakland reliever John Axford pitched a scoreless eighth. Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save as an Athletic despite giving up a leadoff single to Melky Cabrera.

"That's why we brought those guys in," A's manager Bob Melvin said of Axford and Madson. "They're veteran guys that aren't afraid to pitch with some guys on base."

After back-to-back one-run losses to the White Sox, the A's came out ahead in a one-run game.

"Damn good pitcher," White Sox catcher Alex Avila said of Gray. "I asked him today, 'How you feeling?' and he goes, 'Not too good.' It didn't seem that way. He's got a lot of confidence in everything he throws. It's a hang-with-him type of day. You try to survive against guys like that."

A's center fielder Billy Burns had two singles in four at-bats and scored a run in the first inning. Jed Lowrie had his fifth RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly in the first.

White Sox right fielder Adam Eaton went 2-for-3 and raised his average to .636 through three games. Austin Jackson doubled and scored Chicago's only run in the third inning on Jimmy Rollins' sacrifice fly.

Burns grounded a leadoff single to center in the first inning, went to third on Khris Davis' single and scored on Lowrie's sacrifice fly.

Canha made it 2-0 in the second, sending Rodon's first-pitch fastball over the out-of-town scoreboard in right for the Athletics' first home run of the season.

"I think in my first start that was one of the things I could have done a better job was being ready for that first pitch," Canha said. "So I told myself to be aggressive today, which is my game normally. Any time I get off my aggressive approach, that usually doesn't work out for me. So trying to just get back to what I do best."

As it turned out, two runs were all that Gray and the A's needed.

"They got a couple quick runs on (Rodon)," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "They were swinging early.

"He settled down, control, composure, all that stuff. He threw great. At the end, he did what he had to do, and Sonny did what he had to do.

"We had some opportunities late and couldn't do anything with it. We couldn't get anything going against Sonny either. He was tough tonight. Didn't look like he had his best control. He was a little erratic, but it was effective."

NOTES: A's LHP Eric Surkamp will be called up from Triple-A Nashville on Friday for a start that night against the Mariners in Seattle, manager Bob Melvin said. Surkamp will start in place of LHP Felix Doubront, who went on the 15-day disabled list Monday with an injury to his left elbow. ... A's RHP Henderson Alvarez, a 2014 National League All-Star with Miami, threw to hitters for the first time since undergoing season-ending right shoulder surgery on July 28. He will throw another simulated game Sunday. ... Avisail Garcia made his third consecutive start at designated hitter for the White Sox, but he will start in right field Thursday at Oakland, manager Robin Ventura said. Ventura acknowledged that Garcia needs to work on his defense. ... White Sox INF Tyler Saladino will start at shortstop Thursday, giving 37-year-old Jimmy Rollins a day off after three consecutive starts.