Chicago's holding down first place almost by default while its bats sleepwalk through July, and Oakland's arriving having lost 9 of its last 10 with a lineup down two more names. Someone has to win this one.
Bush’s Picks
ATHCWS
ATHCWS
OverUnder
Best BetWhite Sox
The White Sox are still the better team on paper and sit atop the AL Central, even while stuck in a scoring drought. Oakland's lost 9 of 10 and just had its best hitter pulled with an illness, which is a rough spot to be in on the road. Backing Chicago to snap out of it at home is the safer lean here.
Athletics
+Kurtz hitting .270 with 20 home runs, All-Star bound
+Langeliers also an All-Star selection this year
−Lost 9 of last 10 games
−Kurtz sidelined by illness mid-week
−Rooker done for season after knee surgery
White Sox
+First place in the AL Central at 47-44
+Murakami nearing return from rehab assignment
−Just 1 run scored across last 21 innings
−Swept in back-to-back losses to Boston
−Schultz carrying a 6.00 ERA this year
First pitch is set for 1:10 PM CT, and the White Sox hand the ball to Noah Schultz, who's been fighting his own control more than the opposing lineup. The Athletics haven't announced a starter for the series finale, but whoever it is inherits a Chicago offense that's gone ice cold at the worst possible time.
Schultz just got shredded by Boston, allowing 4 earned runs on 7 hits over 5 innings in a loss, and his ERA sits at 6.00 for the season. He's back from a knee issue that cost him most of June, and the stuff flashes, but the results haven't come. Making matters worse, the White Sox have scored 1 run in their last 21 innings, getting swept by the Red Sox 8-1 and 5-0 in back-to-back games. Munetaka Murakami is working his way back from a hamstring injury and due for a rehab assignment, which can't come soon enough for a lineup this stuck.
Show fees
1:10 PM CT
Spread
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Total
ATH Athletics
CWS White Sox
Oakland isn't walking in with much more momentum. The Athletics have dropped 5 straight and 9 of their last 10, a stretch ugly enough to make a lost season feel official even with the All-Star break still ahead. Nick Kurtz, one of two Athletics headed to the All-Star Game along with Shea Langeliers, was pulled early from Wednesday's game after getting sick in the dugout — the latest oddity in a season full of them for this club.
Kurtz is still hitting .270 with 20 home runs and has been the one consistent thing about this offense, but he's now dealing with the same illness that's apparently made its way through the clubhouse. Brent Rooker is done for the year after season-ending knee surgery, stripping out another middle-of-the-order bat Oakland can't replace.
Athletics
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Chicago White Sox
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Neither team looks like it's playing its best baseball right now, which makes this one more about who stops the bleeding first. Chicago still has the standings on its side — first place in the AL Central despite the funk — while Oakland is just trying to avoid a sweep and salvage something out of a road trip that's gone sideways.
