Athletics vs. White Sox: Picks, predictions, how to watch Saturday’s game

The Oakland A’s and Chicago White Sox square off on Saturday with first pitch set for 7:15 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. The A’s will have All-Star Paul Blackburn (6-6, 4.35 ERA) on the mound while the White Sox will start Johnny Cueto (4-4, 2.89 ERA).

Don’t look now, but Oakland (39-63) has won seven of its last eight games including a 7-3 win over Chicago on Friday. Despite ranking 30th in team batting average and 29th in runs the A’s managed to out-homer the White Sox, led by two homers from Seth Brown and one each from Stephen Piscotty and Elvis Andrus. Oakland’s recent surge in reality only adds more trade interest around the league as the A’s is widely expected to be sellers heading into the August 2 trade deadline.

Chicago (49-50) has continued its trend of inconsistency as of late. A loss Friday made it back-to-back losses following a previous three-game winning streak. That winning streak succeeded yet another two-game skid. The White Sox’ up-and-down play results in them dipping below .500 and staring at third place in the AL Central and 3.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the final wildcard spot in the American League. With a playoff push still very much within reach expect Chicago to be active buyers as the trade deadline nears.

Athletics vs. White Sox

Pitchers: Paul Blackburn vs. Johnny Cueto
First pitch: 7:15 p.m. ET
A’s local broadcast: NBC Sports California
White Sox local broadcast: NBC Sports Chicago
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: White Sox -1.5 (+120)
Run total: 8
Moneyline odds: A’s +140, White Sox -165

Moneyline pick: Athletics +140

Oakland’s recent surge may have come out of left field, but perhaps it’s all too convenient as the team sees its trade assets increase their value ahead of the deadline. Chicago may have the pitching advantage with Cueto on the hill but in his last outing, he had a shaky performance where he allowed eight hits and four runs (three earned) against the Cleveland Guardians. Make it five straight wins for the unusually hot A’s by Saturday’s end.

Player prop pick: Stephen Piscotty over 0.5 total bases (-175)

Piscotty homered in Friday’s win with three RBIs to his name as well. He also has a much more favorable .459 SLG versus righties compared to .258 SLG against lefties this season. I think it’s the trade deadline magic that has A’s surging, which means Piscotty should hit the over on total bases for Saturday.

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