These A's have been looking sort-of familiar lately, with their inability to score runs and pitching staff that refuses to ever give them up. The theory that Oakland pitching is enough to keep the team in contention will be severely tested in this series, when they go up against the slugging Chicago White Sox. Yeah, it is still very early in the season, but the White Sox have been putting up some really big offensive numbers – 62 runs scored! 11 home runs! team OBP is .367!! Will Braden, Cahill, and Anderson be able to shut down Dunn, Quentin, and Konerko?

And, in other GOG business, PDXAthleticsfan left a comment in GOG #03, kindly volunteering to write a bunch of GOGs. I'm going to repost his schedule below and if anyone else wants to sign up, that would be great.

GOG 2011 #04 — Shutting Down Chicago

UPDATE -- answers (courtesy of paris7) added below, in bold

1. Predict the series outcome. [3 points] 2-1 Oakland
2. Game 1 matches up Braden against Mark Buehrle, who represents Braden's best case scenario. Buerhle doesn't strike many out, but makes up for it with low walk rates (and fantastic durability, which Braden has not demonstrated). Who throws more innings? Who records more Ks? Who gives up fewer walks? [1 point each] More IP: Buehrle; More K: Braden; Fewer BB: Buehrle
3. US Cellular is a big home run park and the White Sox are built to take advantage of it, with Konerko, Quentin, and Adam Dunn as the new DH. How many home runs in the series for both teams combined? [3 points] 6 HR
4. Where did all these Trevor Cahill strikeouts come from? He has turned into a FIP-monster with 15 Ks through 12.2 innings. So far, the White Sox have struck out at a lower rate (11.8%) than any other team in baseball (of course, they are on a general offensive hot streak, so this isn't necessarily surprising). How many strikeouts for Cahill? [3 points] 3 K
5. The Oakland bench has provided welcome production, particularly from Andy LaRoche. Predict total at-bats, hits, and runs batted in for LaRoche, Jackson, Sweeney, and Powell (all combined). [2 points each] 23 AB, 5 H, 0 RBI
6. Playing small ball -- Which team steals more bases? Which team hits more sacrifice flies? Which team hits into more double plays? [1 point each] More SB: Oakland; More SF: tie; More GIDP: Oakland
7. After a promising rookie year and a below average 2010, Gordon Beckham is looking like a break out so far. Predict his hits, runs, and RBI. [2 points each] 1 H, 0 R, 1 RBI

Game 1 starts at 5:10 pacific, so wait until your boss isn't looking and then post your entry!

Scores

Congratulations to the winner, longtimeasfan!

• mean = 6.65 points
• standard deviation = 2.43 points
• median = 6 points