White Sox vs Athletics Odds, Picks, and Probable Pitchers (Sep. 9)
- The Oakland Athletics are -140 home favorites over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, September 9
- Entering play Wednesday, the A’s had lost four games in a row
- The White Sox were 1-3 through their past four games
The Chicago White Sox (80-78, 34-34 away) are basically treading water, awaiting the arrival of the MLB postseason. The Oakland Athletics (74-64, 37-32 home), meanwhile, may be going under for the third time.
Chicago’s American League squad leads the AL Central by 9.5 games. The division title will soon officially be theirs. Oakland has fallen four games behind in the race for the second AL Wild Card playoff spot. Both the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays are ahead of the Athletics in the chase to catch the Boston Red Sox.
Postseason baseball is slipping away from the A’s. They need wins and oddsmakers think they’ll get one on Thursday afternoon. Oakland is a -150 betting favorite over the White Sox in the finale of this three-game set. The Athletics are 31-20 as home favorites this season.
Athletics vs Tigers Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Sox | +130 | +1.5 (-150) | O 8.5 (-115) |
| Oakland Athletics | -150 | -1.5 (+130) | U 8.5 (-105) |
Odds as of September 8th at DraftKings.
First pitch Thursday afternoon is set for 3:37pn ET at Ring Central Coliseum. Rain is in the forecast along with 10 mph wind and a temperature of 67 degrees.
Lopez vs Manaea
| 3-1 | Record | 8-9 |
| 2.08 | ERA | 3.91 |
| 3.11 | xERA | 4.05 |
| 0.72 | WHIP | 1.22 |
| 4.75 | SO/W Ratio | 4.58 |
White Sox right-hander Lopez will make his second start in a row and fifth of the season. He’s not worked more than five innings in any of his 15 pitching stints this season. Lopez has made it through the fifth inning just twice.
Lopez is 1-1 as a starter this season. That one win came on August 17 against Oakland. Lopez worked five innings of one-hit, shutout ball in a 9-0 shutout of the A’s. He’s gone four innings and surrendered three earned runs in each of his two starts since that game.
Reynaldo López’s streak of 26 hitters retired in a row ends with a one-out walk to Carlos Santana in the second
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) September 4, 2021
He’s 2-1 with a 0.77 ERA in four career starts against Oakland. Lopez has posted a 1.07 WHIP when facing the Athletics and has checked Oakland hitters on a .173 batting average.
Athletics left-hander Manaea leads the AL in complete games (two) and shutouts (two). Lately, though, it’s not been going well for Manaea. He’s allowed 24 earned runs over his past six starts covering 27 innings for an ERA of 8.00.
Sean Manaea got a nice dugout welcome from BoMel and the boys after his best start since July
Final line: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K pic.twitter.com/13cJ7RUBSr
— The Rickey Henderson of Blogs (@RickeyBlog) September 4, 2021
Manaea is winless since July 28, enduring an 0-3 skid. He’s 2-7 in his last nine decisions dating back to June 20. The southpaw has served up eight home runs over the past 21 innings.
He’ll be facing the ChiSox for the first time this season. Manaea is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his only career start against the White Sox.
Batting Average vs Starting Pitchers
| White Sox Batters | Batting Average vs Manaea | Athletics Batters | Batting Average vs Lopez |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jose Abreu | .000 | Austin Allen | .000 |
| Leury Garcia | .667 | Elvis Andrus | .154 |
| Rom Gonzalez | .000 | Skye Bolt | .000 |
| Brian Goodwin | .000 | Mark Canha | .300 |
| Yasmani Grandal | .000 | Matt Chapman | .200 |
| Billy Hamilton | .000 | Khris Davis | .125 |
| Niko Goodrum | .250 | Yan Gomes | .200 |
| Cesar Hernandez | .167 | Josh Harrison | .000 |
| Eloy Jimenez | .000 | Tony Kemp | .000 |
| Danny Mendick | .000 | Jed Lowrie | .000 |
| Yoan Moncada | .000 | Starling Marte | .200 |
| Luis Robert | .000 | Sean Murphy | .000 |
| Gavin Sheets | .000 | Matt Olson | .273 |
| Andrew Vaughn | .000 | Chad Pinder | .000 |
| Seby Zavala | .000 | — | — |
White Sox utility man Leury Garcia is 2-for-3 (.667) in his career when facing Manaea. Second baseman Cesar Hernandez (1-for-6, .167) is the only other Chicago player to get a hit off of Manaea.
Matt Olson: “We’re on the outside looking in. We know we have the talent in here. We truly believe we’re a team that should be in the playoffs and make a long run. We gotta pick it up from the last four games. If we don’t, we’re not gonna like the results."
— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) September 8, 2021
Athletics first baseman Matt Olson is 3-for-11 (.273) against Lopez with a solo home run. Leftfielder Mark Canha is 3-for-10 (.300). Third baseman Matt Chapman and catcher Yan Gomes are both 1-for-5 (.200) with an RBI.
White Sox vs Athletics Picks
Oakland’s September skid had seen the A’s go 0-4 and 1-5 heading into Wednesday’s game with the White Sox. That included being swept in a three-game series at Toronto, which severely impacted their playoff hopes.
Oakland recalled right-handed reliever Miguel Romero from Triple-A Las Vegas, shipping lefty AJ Puk to Vegas. White Sox leftfielder Eloy Jimenez is listed as day-to-day with a bone bruise in his right knee. He was hit with a foul ball while sitting in the dugout during Tuesday’s game.
While Manaea has scuffled of late, Lopez put together a streak of 26 consecutive retired batters that was finally halted in his last start. Take the price and go with the hot hand.
Pick: Chicago White Sox (+130)
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
