Game Day Preview: Sean Burke Rides Streak Of Quality Starts Into Houston

Wednesday's starting pitching matchup features Sean Burke against Ryan Gusto. Here's the game day preview, including notes the probable pitchers, lineups, roster news, TV and radio details, weather forecast and more.

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Sean Burke (59) throws against the Texas Rangers at Rate Field. / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The White Sox have played some of their best baseball of the season lately, and so has starting pitcher Sean Burke.

The 25-year-old right-hander has worked a career-best three straight quality starts against the Tigers, Orioles and Rangers. In his most recent start, he also pitched a career-high seven innings while allowing two earned runs in an extra-innings win over the MLB-leading Tigers.

Burke's recent success is indicative of the White Sox starting rotation as a whole over the last week. As the team has won four of five games for the first time all season, the starting pitchers have combined for a 2.54 ERA with four quality starts.

This stretch of quality starts from Burke came after he allowed five earned runs while walking five batters in 4.2 innings against the Cubs. Following that outing, he noted that his command was "awful" and his delivery felt out of sync. But he's made noticeable strides since then, walking just two batters across his last two starts, and agrees the last few starts have made for his best run of the year.

"Yeah, I think that just kind of piecing together some stuff and feeling in sync," Burke said. "Being around the plate and commanding all the stuff I throw has been helping me a lot."

Here's more information on Wednesday's game.

How to watch White Sox vs. Astros

• Who: Chicago White Sox (23-44) vs. Houston Astros (36-30)
• When: Wednesday, June 11 at 7:10 p.m. CT
• Where: Daikin Park in Houston, Texas
• TV: Chicago Sports Network (CHSN). For more information on how to watch CHSN, CLICK HERE.
• Radio: ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM
• Betting information: The Astros are favored on the money line at minus-166 and the White Sox money line odds are plus-140. On the run line, you can bet the White Sox plus-1.5 at minus-154 odds, and the Astros minus-1.5 at plus-128 odds. The over/under is 8.5 runs, according to the FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Weather: At 7 p.m. in Houston, the forecast is 82 degrees and cloudy with a 13% chance of rain with southeast winds at 11 mph, according to weather.com.

Lineups

White Sox

1. Mike Tauchman, RF
2. Miguel Vargas, 3B
3. Andrew Benintendi, DH
4. Joshua Palacios, LF
5. Luis Robert Jr., CF
6. Kyle Teel, C
7. Tim Elko, 1B
8. Josh Rojas, 2B
9. Vinny Capra, SS

Astros

1. Jeremy Peña, SS
2. Isaac Paredes, 3B
3. Jose Altuve, 2B
4. Yainer Diaz, C
5. Christian Walker, 1B
6. Victor Caratini, DH
7. Jake Meyers, CF
8. Cam Smith, RF
9. Jacob Melton, LF

Probable pitchers

• White Sox RHP Sean Burke: 13 appearances, 11 starts, 67 IP, 61 H, 30 ER, 10 HR, 32 BB, 50 K, 4.03 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 3-6 record, 0.7 WAR.
• Astros RHP Ryan Gusto: 14 appearances, 8 starts, 43.1 IP, 50 H, 23 ER, 6 HR, 21 BB, 45 K, 4.78 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 3-3 record, -0.1 WAR.

Roster news

• The White Sox selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Grant Taylor from Double-A Birmingham and designated right-handed pitcher Bryse Wilson for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

• Prior to Sunday's game, the White Sox signed left-handed pitcher Tyler Alexander to a one-year, $760,000 contract and placed left-hander Jared Shuster on the 15-day injured list with a blister on his left hand. Left-hander Fraser Ellard (left lat strain) was also transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Managers

• Will Venable, White Sox: Venable, 42, is in his first season with the White Sox and first year as an MLB manager. He was previously an associate manager for the Texas Rangers from 2023-24 and on the coaching staffs for the Boston Red Sox from 2021-22 and Chicago Cubs from 2018-20. An outfielder during his playing days, Venable began his career with the San Diego Padres from 2008-15 and later played for the Texas Rangers in 2015 and Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016. He had a .249 batting average in 967 career games. Venable graduated from Princeton University, where he played baseball and basketball.
• Joe Espada, Astros: Espada, 49, is in his second season managing the Astros. Last season, he guided Houston to an 88-73 record and an AL West division title before losing to the Tigers in the wild card round. Espada has been with the Astros since 2018, serving as a bench coach under managers A.J. Hinch and Dusty Baker. He was previously an assistant coach for the Yankees and Marlins. Espada attended the University of Mobile and played minor league baseball from 1996-2006 but never reached the majors.

Related stories on the Chicago White Sox

• SIZEMORE'S NEW GIG: After taking over as interim manager during a historically bad 2024 season, Grady Sizemore returned to the south side in 2025 as the White Sox offensive coordinator. CLICK HERE

• TAYLOR'S DEBUT: Grant Taylor threw 10 of his 12 pitches for strikes in a clean inning Tuesday against the Houston Astros. CLICK HERE

• GETZ ON ISHBIA: Billionaire Justin Ishbia could take over controlling interest of the Chicago White Sox as early as 2029, or as late as 2034. But general manager Chris Getz’s day-to-day operations remain with Jerry Reinsdorf. CLICK HERE