Gamethread: White Sox at Athletics

The South Siders look to avoid the dreaded sweep against Oakland

In bright, sunny northern California, the Chicago White Sox have brought a pretty sad storm with them. The South Siders have scored three runs, have zero extra-base hits, and are 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position. As for the Sox’s pitching, it is just as drismal and dreary: 11 pitchers have combined to issue 10 walks, 26 hits, and 18 runs. Yeah, that — without a doubt — adds up to two losses. On the cusp of being swept out of Oakland, the Sox are ready to bring the heat into Oakland, as they plan to earn their first win after the All-Star break against the Athletics.

Reynaldo López has had a rather 2018 Lucas Giolito kind of season. ReyLo is 4-8 with a 6.34 ERA and a -0.6 WAR. He is looking for his season turnaround, and I think it will come today.

López’s mound opponent is Brett Anderson. Anderson — not the really cool, bat-flipping one — is 9-5 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.8 WAR. He aims for a just-as-strong second-half of the season, so the Sox will need to put a halt to that.

For the Good Guys’ lineup, Leury García is back in center field, so José Rondón will fill in at shortstop.

I will say, this is a fairly decent lineup, so let’s hope that the Sox’s bats can come alive to bring the sun back out! (We all know what we need when the sun is out!)

The A’s will line up as follows:

Our old friend, Marcus Semien, bats leadoff and will play shortstop. Our old AL Central rival, Robbie Grossman, bats sixth and will play left field.

The Athletics made a move prior to the game and prior to the Sox’s road trip to Kansas City:

On paper, this is Brett Anderson’s game to win; however, we’ll see what the Boys in Black have to say against that! It’s a 3:07 CT game. Our old-faithful WGN has both the broadcast and radio. Time to earn the “W,” and make our way to Kansas City!