If the Oakland Athletics are lucky, they will split their series with the Chicago White Sox, but the four-game series just shows the downwards slump Oakland has hit at the wrong time in their season. The Athletics are hoping to win the wild card race after leading the American League for the first part of the season. However, the team continues to lose in close games. Jeff Samardzija put up seven scoreless innings on Wednesday, but a two-run single gave the White Sox the win.
The Oakland bullpen has blown close games in three of their last four as the Athletics hit a 3-10 stretch. Errors and late-hits in the bottom half of games have plagued Oakland recently, but the team still sits 1 ½ games ahead of the Detroit Tigers while being two games in front of the Seattle Mariners. A win against the White Sox is crucial.
Scott Kazmir takes the mound while being 14-7 with a 3.43 ERA on the season. He has given up 13 runs in 4 1.3 innings in his last two starts of August, but rebounded well in September. He gave up three runs and three hits in six innings against Houston. He has seriously struggled against the White Sox, going 0-4 with an 8.60 ERA in his last six games against the team.
Chicago will counter with Chris Sale who is 11-3 with a 2.09 ERA on the year. He is 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA in his last three starts. In his last start, he gave up just one run in six innings against the Cleveland Indians. He is hoping to become the first White Sox pitcher to lead the American League in ERA since 1967. He has performed well enough against the Athletics to make people believe he can do it. Sale is 1-2 with a 2.89 ERA in four career starts against Oakland, but has not faced them this season.
Watch Oakland vs. Chicago live stream, click here.
