The Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox meet at 5:10pm this afternoon in the middle game of their three game series at US Cellular Field. Trevor Cahill faces off against Edwin Jackson in a matchup that could provide another solid pitchers duel like we had last night.
Hideki Matsui and Coco Crisp lead the way in plate appearances against Jackson, with both finding solid success. Matsui has a line of .304/.385/.522, while Crisp is at .409/.440/.500. The A’s are giving Andy LaRoche his second straight start at shortstop as he is riding his hot spring into a solid April, hitting .417 in twelve at bats. It’s a very limited sample size, but it’s nice to see him finding some early success.
Oakland Athletics
1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Daric Barton, 1B
3. David DeJesus, LF RF
4. Hideki Matsui, DH
5. Kurt Suzuki, C
6. Ryan Sweeney, RF LF
7. Mark Ellis, 2B
8. Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B
9. Andy LaRoche, SS
The most prominent change to the White Sox lineup is the return of Adam Dunn after his appendectomy. He missed much of the last week and is back in action, creating quite the challenge for A’s ace Trevor Cahill. Dunn is in his first season with an American League club and has never faced Cahill in inter-league play. The rest of the White Sox lineup features little experience against Cahill. Alexei Ramirez and Alexis Rios each have 14 plate appearances, with both hitting .214/.286/.500 against Cahill.
Chicago White Sox
1. Juan Pierre, LF
2. Omar Vizquel, 2B
3. Adam Dunn, 1B
4. Paul Konerko, 1B
5. Carlos Quentin, RF
6. Alex Rios, CF
7. A.J. Pierzynski, C
8. Alexei Ramirez, SS
9. Mark Teahen, 3B