DAVID BANKS (comp)
Chicago White Sox vs. Oakland A’s
American League action closes out the Friday the 13th diamond slate when Philip Humber and the Chicago White Sox invade Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to battle Brandon McCarthy and the Oakland A’s; first pitch is scheduled for 10:05 ET.
Don’t look now, but the Palehose could be gaining some much needed self confidence to get them playing like the team many thought that be at the outset of the season. Coming back to beat the Halos in Anaheim Wednesday night, so the White Sox go into their off day on a high for the first time all season. There hasn’t been much to get excited about on the South Side to date, but smiles were seen on the player’s faces after the finale at Angels Stadium, and it’s only a matter of time until this roster starts playing up to snuff. Though Manager Ozzie Guillen’s squad ranks 28th on the 2011 $$$-list with a -$998 showing, Chicago’s been at its best away from The Cell where it’s 10-12 (-$79) on the year.
The A’s went into their off day on Thursday a game over .500 on the year (19-18 -$135) and 1.5-games in back of the LA Angels for the top spot in the AL West. While the pitching staff owns the top ranked ERA in the league (2.75 ERA), the offense has once again been putrid as it ranks 27th scoring an average of just 3.49 RPG and sports a .233 overall batting average (#24); their 23 HRs is good for only the 26th best mark in the league. Pitching can only take you so far, and now with Dallas Braden on the DL for an undetermined amount of time, Manager Bob Geren will have to take more chances for his line-up to produce more offense.
Oakland holds a 12-8 advantage over Chicago in the team’s L/20 overall meetings, and though they’re 39-16 the L/55 times they played the role of host in this series, Chicago has managed five wins in its L/10 trips to the Bay; the ‘over’ is 6-3-1 in those games.
PICK: Chicago/Oakland OVER
