Oakland Athletics vs Chicago White Sox AL Wildcard MLB Picks, Predictions 9/29/20

The Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics meet Tuesday in game one of the American League World Card MLB playoffs at the Oakland Coliseum. 

The Chicago White Sox enter the playoffs ice cold with losses in nine of their last 12 games. The Chicago White Sox are in the playoffs for the first time since 2008 when Ozzie Guillen was manager and Orlando Cabrera led the team in hits. The White Sox have a balanced team, but they’re more so carried by an offense that’s sixth in runs per game (5.10), sixth in batting average, eighth in OPS (.778) and third in home runs (96). While the White Sox pitching staff has an ERA that’s good for sixth in the MLB (3.81), it’s the batting lineup that usually sets the tone for this club. Jose Abreu leads the White Sox with 76 hits and 60 RBI while Tim Anderson and Eloy Jimenez have combined for 130 hits and 62 RBI. Lucas Giolito gets the ball, and he was 4-3 this season with a 3.48 ER and 97 strikeouts this season. This will be Giolito’s first career postseason appearance. 

The Oakland Athletics enter the playoffs splitting their last 16 games. The Oakland Athletics are in the postseason for a third straight year and hope to get out of the wild card spot for the first time since 2013. The Athletics offense has had their struggles this season, as they’re 17th in runs per game (4.57) and 25th in team batting average (.225), but it’s the pitching staff that’s carried the load. The Athletics have the fifth best team ERA (3.77) in baseball and are led by arguably the best bullpen this season. Offensively, Mark Canha leads the A’s with 47 hits and 33 RBI while Marcus Semien and Matt Olson have combined for 88 hits and 65 RBI. Jesus Luzardo gets the ball, and he was 3-2 with a 4.12 ERA and 59 strikeouts this season. Luzardo is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and four strikeouts in his postseason career.

The White Sox are 12-4 in their last 16 playoff games, 45-19 in their last 64 games as a favorite and 23-49 in their last 72 Tuesday games. The Athletics are 48-19 in their last 67 home games, 2-5 in their last 7 Tuesday games and 0-5 in their last 5 playoff games. The over is 4-0 in White Sox last 4 overall. The under is 3-1-1 in Athletics last 5 overall. The White Sox are 23-51 in the last 74 meetings in Oakland and 1-5 in the last 6 meetings.

The Chicago White Sox are a good team that’s capable of getting out of this funk, as the offensive potential is there and Giolito has been dominant on the road with a 2.79 ERA and .202 allowed batting average through 29 innings. However, the White Sox are iasily the coldest team entering the playoffs and nine losses in their last 12 tries doesn’t scream confidence. The Oakland Athletics are an experienced roster that’s been here done the in terms of playoff trips, and they have the best bullpen in baseball, which has been key in past deep postseason runs.

I have to give the Athletics the edge in this game and this series overall.