Game # 24: Athletics versus White Sox Game Thread

These guys again?

Clear your Friday evening, folks. The A’s are back at it as they welcome a new team to Sutter Health Park for their first visit. The Chicago White Sox, who the A’s saw just last week, come to town for a weekend series as the A’s look to go 6-0 against their AL Central foe after sweeping them just last week.

Right-handed veteran Luis Severino will take the ball for the home team tonight as he looks to string together two quality starts for the first time in an Athletics uniform. On the season the high-priced free agent signee has a 3.31 ERA over his first 32 ¹⁄₃ innings here in 2025. He’s been on both ends of the spectrum when on the mound as he’s either pitching like a front-line starter in some outings and a replacement-level pitcher in others. Which Severino will show up tonight against the South Siders?

The Athletics’ lineup to kick of the series with the White Sox will look like this:

All the regulars are in there for the Friday night tilt. Designated hitter Brent Rooker is back in there after getting a full day off yesterday. The team managed to snatch the victory from the jaws of defeat without Rook in the lineup against the Rangers for the finale but the team will be glad to have him back in the lineup. He’ll reclaim his spot in the 2-hole, snugged between leadoff man Lawrence Butler and left fielder Tyler Soderstrom. And yes, 1st-rounders Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz are in the lineup, batting sixth and seventh respectviely. Think we’ll see Kurtz’s first big league home run tonight?

Starting for the White Sox tonight will be left-hander Tyler Gilbert. The original scheduled starting pitcher for Chicago tonight, righty Sean Burke, was a late scratch from tonight's assignment. We don’t yet know the reason but changing the starting pitcher just over an hour away from first pitch isn’t common at all. Gilbert will start in Burke’s place and he’ll be making his first start of the season. The lefty has starting experience but has been exclusively a reliever for the past three seasons. He hasn’t pitched more than 1 ¹⁄₃ innings in any appearance this season so it’s likely the White Sox are planning for a bullpen game with Gilbert as the opener, indicating the switch from Burke to Gilbert was really a last-second switch. Not ideal if you’re Chicago.

The White Sox lineup for the Friday night contest in Sacramento:

One bat the Athletics mostly missed during the last series was Andrew Benintendi. The left outfielder was off to a solid start and was Chicago’s best hitter before going down with a shoulder injury that caused him to miss most of the previous series against the A’s. He’s back but has struggled since returning. Still, Severino should be careful with him as he’s one of the only major threats in the Chicago lineup.

Time to start the weekend right by securing a win against the worst team in baseball. That’s not too big of an ask, right? Let’s go A’s!