Chicago @ Oakland preview
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Jul 23, 2010 ) Chi. White Sox 5, Oakland 1
The common theme of the Chicago White Sox’s recent run of good fortune on the west coast has been fantastic starting pitching.
The White Sox will be looking to continue that theme when they face the Oakland Athletics again on Saturday.
Trips out west can be difficult for teams from the Eastern and Central time zones, but Chicago has looked plenty rested against the Seattle Mariners and the A’s, especially in the starting pitching department. After opening the second half by losing three of four at the Minnesota Twins, the White Sox have allowed a total of four runs in their last four games - receiving great starts from Dan Hudson, John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Mark Buehrle.
The lone loss in that span was a 2-1 setback in 11 innings at Seattle, when closer Bobby Jenks let a lead slip away. That prompted manager Ozzie Guillen to suggest that the team would move to a closer-by-committee system, though Buehrle didn’t need the help on Friday.
The veteran left-hander picked up his first career win at Oakland with a four-hit complete game, striking out two without issuing a walk. Carlos Quentin drove in two and Alex Rios went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Looking to keep his personal winning streak intact for the White Sox on Saturday will be Freddy Garcia.
The Venezuelan right-hander was an afterthought as the No. 5 starter entering this season, but has proven he is over the injuries that have plagued him the last few campaigns. Garcia is 6-0 over his last nine starts while allowing three earned runs or less in eight of those nine outings.
At 103 innings so far this season, Garcia is just 26 shy of matching his total from the previous three seasons combined. A win on Saturday would give him double digits in the category for the first time since 2006, when he went 17-9 for Chicago.
The A’s were a common opponent for Garcia early in his career when he was with the Mariners, and he owns a 6-6 career mark with a 4.98 ERA in 20 starts.
Oakland will counter with another of its slew of promising young pitchers in Vin Mazzaro. The 23-year-old right-hander has solidified his spot in the rotation by going 3-1 with a 2.06 ERA and a .218 batting average against in his last five starts. He is coming off a win at Kansas City in which he allowed one run and struck out five over 7 2/3 innings.
He faced the White Sox in his first major league appearance back on June 2, 2009, allowing three hits in 6 1/3 scoreless innings to earn a win.