Athletics play the White Sox in first of 4-game series

Chicago White Sox (69-68, second in the AL Central) vs. Oakland Athletics (50-87, fifth in the AL West)

Oakland, California; Thursday, 9:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: White Sox: Dylan Cease (13-6, 2.13 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 197 strikeouts); Athletics: JP Sears (5-1, 2.37 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 31 strikeouts)

LINE: White Sox -187, Athletics +157; over/under is 7 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Oakland Athletics host the Chicago White Sox on Thursday to open a four-game series.

Oakland is 50-87 overall and 22-46 at home. The Athletics have gone 18-10 in games when they hit at least two home runs.

Chicago has a 69-68 record overall and a 35-32 record on the road. White Sox hitters are batting a collective .259, which ranks second in the AL.

Thursday's game is the fourth meeting between these teams this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Sean Murphy has 18 home runs, 46 walks and 62 RBI while hitting .252 for the Athletics. Tony Kemp is 11-for-37 with three doubles and six RBI over the past 10 games.

Andrew Vaughn has 26 doubles, a triple, 15 home runs and 64 RBI while hitting .284 for the White Sox. Elvis Andrus is 14-for-42 with three doubles and three home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 4-6, .235 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored by eight runs

White Sox: 6-4, .265 batting average, 3.24 ERA, outscored opponents by 16 runs

INJURIES: Athletics: Adam Oller: 15-Day IL (rib), Zach Jackson: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Dany Jimenez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Skye Bolt: 10-Day IL (knee), Paul Blackburn: 60-Day IL (finger), Daulton Jefferies: 60-Day IL (arm), Deolis Guerra: 60-Day IL (elbow), Brent Honeywell Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow)

White Sox: Luis Robert: day-to-day (wrist), Kyle Crick: 60-Day IL (elbow), Tim Anderson: 10-Day IL (finger), Danny Mendick: 60-Day IL (knee), Garrett Crochet: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jonathan Stiever: 60-Day IL (lat)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.