Following a day off on a holiday (boo, hiss) the A's open a quick two-game set in Chicago with the South Siders before another day off on Thursday. I must have missed the memo clarifying that the A's now work for the state of California and are being forced to take more furlough days, but I digress.

After finally winning a couple games against the Seattle Mariners, the A's face a White Sox team they're 4-3 against, including a 3-1 roadtrip to the Windy City that kicked things off in June (ahh, memories of Mazzarro World seem so distant). Chicago has slid to the fringe of contention, now 7.5 games behind AL Central leader Detroit. This is thanks to a stretch that saw them lose nine of ten before rebounding to win five of their last six. As usual, Ozzie Guillen has been an easy source of entertaining quotes.

Scheduled starters for the two games:

Today - Brett Tomko vs. Carlos Torres

Tomorrow - Trevor Cahill vs. Freddy Garcia

Gordon Beckham has missed a couple games for the White Sox thanks to some soreness in his side but he may return in this series.