Oakland Athletics vs. Chicago White Sox Pick & Prediction APRIL 17th 2025
Preview and Prediction
The A's have a chance to secure a three-game sweep for the first time since last July as they head to Chicago to face the White Sox on Thursday afternoon.
Oakland has emerged victorious in the first two games of the series, including a 3-1 win on Wednesday. A third consecutive victory would mark the team's first sweep since they took all three games against the Los Angeles Angels in July 2024.
The franchise has not swept an opponent on the road since June 9-11, 2023, when they won three games against the Milwaukee Brewers.
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One of the biggest surprises in baseball this season has been the performance of 23-year-old first baseman, Tyler Soderstrom. Soderstrom currently leads the majors with eight home runs and hit a homer in Tuesday's 12-3 rout of the White Sox. Last season, he only had nine home runs in 61 games.
"It's pretty unbelievable," Soderstrom said. "As a kid, I would have been so proud of myself right now. I'm just grateful for this opportunity and taking it one day at a time."
Soderstrom is tied with Jacob Wilson for the team lead in hits with 22.
On Thursday, the A's will send left-hander JP Sears (1-2, 4.24 ERA) to the mound for his fourth start of the season. The 29-year-old allowed three runs on six hits in four innings in his last start against the New York Mets. In his career, Sears is 1-3 with a 7.29 ERA in four starts against the White Sox.
The White Sox are off to a strong start this season after a historically terrible 2024 campaign. Last year, they set a modern-era record with 121 losses and have already racked up 13 defeats this season, the most in the American League.
Chicago suffered their third consecutive loss on Wednesday, only managing to score one run on Brooks Baldwin's solo home run in the third inning.
In an effort to boost their lineup, the White Sox are calling up catching prospect Edgar Quero, who will make his major league debut on Thursday.
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Quero, 22, is ranked as the No. 62 overall prospect in MLB and was batting .333 in 15 games with Triple-A Charlotte this year.
"I think about that moment every night before I go to bed," Quero said about his debut. "To hear my name and number called and to take my first at-bat in the big leagues, that's been my dream."
Quero will be catching for right-hander Davis Martin (1-1, 4.24 ERA) in his debut. Martin is coming off a strong start last Friday, throwing six innings of one-run, six-hit ball in an 11-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
In his two career appearances (one start) against the A's, Martin has a 1.93 ERA and has yet to record a decision. He threw six shutout innings in a no-decision last August.
Oakland Athletics vs. Chicago White Sox Recap SEP 15TH 2024
Gavin Sheets and Bryan Ramos each homered and Sean Burke pitched five innings for his first major league victory as the Chicago White Sox earned their first series win since the last weekend of June, beating the visiting Oakland Athletics 4-3 on Sunday.
Chicago (35-115) has won consecutive games for the first time since winning three straight on June 27-29.
The White Sox snapped a franchise-worst 16-game home losing streak on Saturday, when they evened the three-game series with a 7-6 walk-off victory.
Chicago must finish 8-4 or better in their final 12 games to avoid matching the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in a single season in modern baseball history (120).
Burke (1-0) allowed two runs over five hits over five innings in his first major league start. He walked two and struck out five.
Jared Shuster and Prelander Berroa followed with a combined three scoreless innings before Fraser Ellard took over in the ninth.
Pinch hitter Shea Langeliers hit a solo homer with two outs before Ellard retired Nick Allen on a fly ball for his first career save.
Brent Rooker also homered for Oakland (65-85), which lost for the third time in its last four games.
Chicago took a 3-0 lead in the first inning against JP Sears (11-11). Luis Robert Jr. scored on Andrew Vaughn's infield single, and Sheets followed with his 10th homer, a two-run shot to right-center field.
Oakland got on the board in the fifth inning. After Lawrence Butler drew a two-out walk, Rooker deposited Burke's first offering into the left-center field seats to cut the deficit to 3-2.
The 407-foot blast was Rooker's 37th homer this season and extended his on-base streak to 25 straight games.
Sears settled in after the rocky first inning and tossed four scoreless innings before Ramos hit a solo homer with two outs in the sixth.
Sears yielded four runs and seven hits, walked one and struck out four over six innings.
Butler went 0-for-3 with a walk, snapping his career-best hitting streak at 22 games.