Cease expected to start as White Sox host the Athletics

Oakland Athletics (68-53, second in the AL West) vs. Chicago White Sox (71-50, first in the AL Central)

Chicago; Thursday, 2:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Cole Irvin (8-11, 3.53 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 96 strikeouts) White Sox: Dylan Cease (9-6, 4.04 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 165 strikeouts)

LINE: White Sox -162, Athletics +148; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Chicago and Oakland will play on Thursday.

The White Sox are 42-22 in home games in 2020. Chicago hitters have posted a team on-base percentage of .332 this season, led by Yoan Moncada with a mark of .367.

The Athletics are 34-28 on the road. Oakland is slugging .408 as a unit. Matt Olson leads the team with a slugging percentage of .562.

The White Sox won the last meeting 3-2. Garrett Crochet notched his third victory and Luis Robert went 3-for-4 with two RBI for Chicago. Paul Blackburn registered his first loss for Oakland.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Abreu leads the White Sox with 47 extra base hits and is slugging .488.

Olson leads the Athletics with 30 home runs and has 79 RBI.

LAST 10 GAMES: White Sox: 6-4, .278 batting average, 3.14 ERA, outscored opponents by 24 runs

Athletics: 5-5, .262 batting average, 4.29 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs

INJURIES: White Sox: Carlos Rodon: (shoulder), Evan Marshall: (elbow), Jimmy Cordero: (elbow), Billy Hamilton: (oblique), Leury Garcia: (concussion), Adam Engel: (shoulder), Yasmani Grandal: (calf).

Athletics: Trevor Rosenthal: (chest), Mike Fiers: (right elbow), Chris Bassitt: (face), Chad Pinder: (hamstring).

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