Free Baseball Picks: Chicago White Sox vs Oakland A’s

Written August 14, 2009 by Jordan Haimowitz

white-sox-as-predictions The White Sox are 58-57 on the season and are currently 2.5 games behind the Tigers for first place in the AL Central. Chicago has been the talk of the town recently after the controversial waiver claim of Alex Rios. Many fans are unhappy they are committing big money to him as his contract extends for three more years guaranteed. On the field though he is still a great talent and could very well have a huge bounce back season in 2010. Jermaine Dye is this teams best player, he has 24 homers (team lead) and 67 RBIs. Paul Konerko is having yet another superb second half, his 21 homers and 70 RBIs (team lead) prove it. Rookie Gordon Beckham has taken the 3rd base job and ran away with it which is a great sign and Alexei Ramirez seems to finally got his swing back, better late then never right. On the mound for the Chi Sox tonight will be Jose Contreras. He is 4-11 with a 5.09 ERA this season. It is all about control with him, when he is off the plate he looks horrific but when he pitches strikes he has enough movement to be very effective. Since the all-star break he is 0-4 with a 6.75 ERA. Do not let the numbers decide you selection though. Chicago has a much better lineup then Oakland and these are the type of games a playoff contending team needs to have. Manager Ozzie Guillen will send a message before the game how important this series is against a losing team. Look for the bats to be hot tonight. Friday’s MLB odds have installed the A’s as -151 money line favorites over the White Sox, with the over/under set for 8.5 runs.

The Oakland Athletics are 51-63 on the season. They have played very well of late going 7-3 in their last 10 games overall. It really is impressive that they have not only pitched well, the A’s have also been swinging the bats consistently. After trading Matt Holliday, Orlando Cabrera and releasing bust of a signing Jason Giambi, you’d think they wouldn’t reach 3 runs again, that has not been the case. Adam Kennedy and Kurt Suzuki have come up with some clutch hits while Jack Cust has taken over as the teams power slugger. On the mound tonight for Oakland is their best young pitcher in Brett Anderson. The 21 year old is 7-8 with a 4.22 ERA this season. His ERA at home is 3.75 this season. In five starts since the break he is 2-1 with a 3.15 ERA. Anderson pitches against a good White Sox lineup tonight that has a mix of speed and power. What will be interesting to see is how he locates his pitches. Chicago is a bunch of free swingers that will be looking to rake, will Anderson realize that and not give in? I don’t think so. When you are a 21 year old rookie you do not tend to pick up other hitters tendencies. Expect Anderson to hit some rough spots tonight.

Haimo’s Hot Notes: The White Sox are 3-8 in their last 11 Friday games. The OVER is 6-2 in Oakland in the last eight games. The OVER is also 8-2 in the last 10 games played in Oakland following an A’s win. The Athletics are 28-8 in the last 36 meetings against the White Sox at home. Look for this to be a very high scoring affair tonight. I do believe the A’s will win, but make sure to hit the OVER.

Jordan’s Picks: Oakland Athletics -151 & Over 8.5 (-105)

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