Athletics Head South To Face the White Sox

The Oakland Athletics have been rolling, winning 16 of its past 19 games. The pitching seems to have found its 2012 form and it’s fueling the A’s fire as the team continues to scorch into June. At the start of the season, the A’s pitching staff was not getting the job done — the offense was carrying the team. Now, the offense, which is still productive, is not carrying the weight of the team anymore and the pitching staff is doing more than its part. In the last 19 games, Oakland has outscored its opponents 90-47. These numbers perfectly represent the perfect balance between offense and pitching that the A’s live by. The runs keep piling up and the pitching staff keep throwing up goose eggs. Oakland is tied with the Red Sox and Rangers for the most wins in the American League (36).

May 10, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher

(67) pitches to the Seattle Mariners during the game at Safeco FIeld. Seattle defeated Oakland 6-3. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Dan Straily will face the White Sox in game one as the A’s start a four-game set in Chicago Thursday. The young phenom struggled mightily in his first few starts after getting called up but has found a way to get back on track. Straily has dominated opponents as of late; he is 2-0 with an 0.95 ERA and has 14 strikeouts in has last three starts. His last start came on Saturday against the White Sox when he threw six innings of one-run baseball and struck out eight.

Jose Quintana, who opposed Straily on Saturday as well, will try to get revenge on Thursday. In Quintana’s last start (against Oakland), he only lasted 5.1 innings and allowed three runs on ten hits and fortunately ended up with a no-decision. In his last three starts, he is 1-1 with a 3.57 ERA and 14 punch-outs.

DownSide: Right now, there isn’t much of one so lets just ignore it.

UpSide: The A’s are pitching well and winning games. Oh yeah, and Josh Reddick has been doing quite well since returning from the DL.

FanSide: Lets go Oakland!

Probable Starters 

Friday, June 7, 5:10 PM PDT

Jarrod Parker (4-6, 4.90 ERA) vs. Chris Sale (5-3, 2.44 ERA)

Saturday, June 8, 1:10 PM PDT

Tommy Milone (6-5 3.91 ERA) vs. John Danks (0-2, 5.63 ERA)

Sunday, June 9, 11:10 PM PDT

A.J. Griffin (5-4, 3.67 ERA) vs. Hector Santiago (1-4, 3.35 ERA)