Gamethread: Rangers at White Sox
Wood wagoneers: Rangers sounds less intimidating in Spanish, since "rurales" also means "country folk" and "station wagons." Maybe that's why Yoán Moncada hit so well last night.
The White Sox will be trying for their third straight win and second in a row against the Texas Rangers, in what should be a perfect night to begin Players' Weekend at Downward Facing Arrow Stadium. The challenge will be continuing the pitching domination of Lucas Giolito and (surprise, surprise!!) Ross Detwiler.
Dylan Cease will be taking up that challenge for the Sox, making his ninth big league start and trying for his third win. Cease's ERA is back up close to six, at 5.93, after getting whacked for five runs in five innings against the Angels last time out. Lefties are batting .338 against him, so it's good the Ranger lineup only has three southpaws and switch-hitter Danny Santana, who missed last night's game with a sore hammie.
It's probably not quite time to go from considering Cease's mediocre performance as just the rockiness of rookieness, to thinking, "Sure hope Giolito gets him away from the Sox organization to the people who made such a difference for him mentally and physically last offseason." That time could come soon, though , especially given Dylan had a really rocky June at Charlotte as well.
Dylan Cease ponders the next step in his development. (Clinton Cole/South Side Hit Pen)
Things will probably be tougher for the offense tonight, since tossing for the Rangers will be 14-game winner Lance Lynn. The big (6´5´´, 280) righty has had two losses and a no decision in his last three starts, though in each loss he only gave up one run.
The good news is that one of the few times Lynn got hit hard this year was courtesy of the White Sox, who got to him for five runs in seven innings June 22 (OK, we lost 6-5 anyway, but let's not mention that). The bright light you'll see coming from the Sox dugout will be the gleam in the eyes of Tim Anderson, who nailed Lynn for a single, double, homer and four RBIs in that game.
Tim Anderson hears he gets to face Lance Lynn again. (Clinton Cole/South Side Hit Pen)
Sox lineup comes complete with Players' Weekend nicknames:
Three of the four Rangers who will hit lefty against Cease will be among the first four batters he faces:
Guess the players wanted the lineup in invisible ink. Probably legible if you rub lemon juice over your screen.
If you can't figure that out (silly you), it'll be Choo/Santana/Andrus/Calhoun/Pence/Odor-/Kiner-Falefa/DeShields/Mathis.
First pitch 7:10 CDT. NBC Sports on the tube, WGN on the transistor.