Chicago White Sox vs. Oakland Athletics Pick 9/7/21

When: 9:40 p.m., Tuesday, September 7

Where: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, Calif.

Moneyline: CHW +115/OAK -135

Runline: White Sox +1.5/Athletics -1.5 (BetOnline – 500K NFL SuperContest Style Contest!)

Total: 9.5

Starting Pitchers: Jimmy Lambert (0-1, 9.00 ERA, 2.13 WHIP) vs. James Kaprielian (7-4, 3.87 ERA, 1.21 WHIP)

What Are We Doing?

The Athletics have got to be asking themselves that question after not only losing ground to the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mariners last weekend but also allowing the Blue Jays to climb right back into the race for the AL wild cards. Oakland’s one saving grace is that by letting the Jays off the mat, they’ve given the Yankees a dangerous foe this week who just might sweep Oakland right back into a wild card position if they can keep their momentum going.
But if the Athletics can’t handle their end of the bargain against the White Sox, the only thing Toronto wins against New York will help is Toronto. Oakland now sits three games back of postseason play, and while the division is still possible thanks to the schedule, the stretch run also means that Oakland has to get this figured out now before it hits the final 12-game sprint against Houston and Seattle. Up until that moment, everyone else on the Athletics’ schedule is either already out of the running or, in the case of the White Sox, so safe that they don’t have to worry about anyone catching up to them. That means taking advantage is a must because if the A’s get to those final 12 games in a pressure situation, they’ve yet to show they can handle it.

Testing For the Future

While the Athletics face a tight situation, the White Sox can afford to relax and take a look at some future stars. For how easily they blitzed the AL Central this season, Chicago is still a young team whose best is yet to come; their timetable simply got moved up when the Twins went down in flames, and the Indians began the selling process. With the Tigers still, a year away and the Royals even further, that left the White Sox to win the Central by default.

With the rest of the division unable to challenge them in the slightest (literally all the Sox have to do is play .400 baseball the rest of the way, and they should win the division with a few games to spare), Chicago is seeing what else they have that can help them in 2022, which was always the plan for when the Sox would really make a run. As such, they’ll take another look at Jimmy Lambert, who hasn’t yet started against anyone but Cleveland. Given that Oakland’s hitting ranks just 22nd in the majors, this shouldn’t be too much of an increase in difficulty for the 26-year-old hurler. However, the home team has won in all three of his appearances, which could be a concern here.

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Run Prevention?

The numbers say that James Kaprielian has done a fine job this season for Oakland, nearly cutting his ERA in half and earning seven wins on the season. Here’s the problem with that: Kaprielian has really struggled to get the job done in his most recent starts. Over his past three trips to the mound, his ERA is an unseemly 7.07, and the over has cashed in five of his past six appearances.
Only against San Francisco, which often struggles to hit, has Kaprielian even approached a reasonable level of success on the mound as of late. In his other two of his past three starts, he was tagged for 11 runs, and his team ended up on the wrong end of the scoreboard, even though they came up with six runs of their own.
That’s made Kaprielian an excellent target for over bettors: the Athletics know that they’ve got to get something going at the plate because the odds are that he’s going to give up around four runs of his own. As long as the bullpen doesn’t pitch lights-out, this is a reasonable target.

Betting Trends

• The White Sox are 8-1 in their past nine Tuesday games.
• The White Sox are 1-5 in their past six road games against a right-handed starter.
• The Athletics are 2-9 in their past 11 against a team above .500.
• The Athletics are 1-4 in their past five overall.
• The under is 5-0-1 in the White Sox’s past six Tuesday games.
• The over is 5-2 in the White Sox’s past seven after a loss.
• The over is 5-1 in the Athletics’ past six games overall.
• The over is 7-3-1 in the Athletics’ past 11 Tuesday games.
• The Athletics are 18-8 in the past 26 meetings.
• The over is 9-3 in the past 12 meetings in Oakland.

Weather Report

This will be a perfect day for baseball in northern California, with temperatures at 69 degrees and clear skies. Wind will blow at seven miles per hour toward dead center.

Dan’s pick

I just don’t trust Lambert in this spot, even as the Athletics have made it tough to trust them to get the job done. The fact is, neither team is playing good baseball at the moment, so there’s a lot to worry about here. But the reality is that Oakland needs it more, and when in doubt, I always want the team that needs to win.
For me, the best bet on the board is the over. But for the result, I’m backing the Athletics. Where are you betting your football picks this season? Does your book offer -105 odds? No! You’re paying -110! Stop that noise TODAY and start saving big money by making the switch to reduced juice football wagering at BetAnySports Sportsbook! You’ll be SO glad you did!