Coming off consecutive sweeps of 2015 playoff teams, the White Sox head into a four game weekend series against the team most closely trailing them for best record in the American League. All remaining claims of success being due to fortune of scheduling are gone; they have gone seven games without scoring fewer than four runs, and the pitching is still shutting teams down at a ridiculous rate. And now there’s John Danks.
The only starter yet to take the mound in a White Sox victory is Danks. It could be said that his starts have gotten progressively better as far as runs allowed, but overall results are all over the board. His performance is erratic — he is still officially the team’s fifth starter, but in secure enough possession of the role that Miguel Gonzalez’s start in Toronto Monday night didn’t seem like a tryout of sorts. In his most recent outing he went six full innings and allowed just two runs, which would constitute an improvement over the 12 that scored during his first two starts, but he also more than doubled his season walk total and struck out just two batters.
The Orioles offense is a formidable one. They’ve hit the ball well this season and are a big reason they currently sit atop the AL East standings. Specifically, Manny Machado and Mark Trumbo have started out on a tear, each in possession of a TAv at .320 or higher. Both being well above the White Sox most productive hitter, Melky Cabrera, who sits at .301.
Tyler Wilson was recently inserted into the rotation to take the place of a struggling Vance Worley. Following a few stretched out bullpen appearances with positive results, he made his first start of the season on Saturday against the Royals, going five innings and allowing six hits and three runs. He’s not a huge threat to go deep into the game, given his newness to the role, but the White Sox are still a fairly aggressive team with a knack for keeping opposing pitch counts down.
White Sox Lineup:
- Adam Eaton – RF
- Jimmy Rollins – SS
- Jose Abreu – 1B
- Todd Frazier – 3B
- Melky Cabrera – LF
- Brett Lawrie – 2B
- Avisail Garcia – DH
- Hector Sanchez – C
- Austin Jackson – CF
Orioles Lineup:
- Joey Rickard – RF
- Manny Machado – 3B
- Chris Davis – 1B
- Mark Trumbo – DH
- Adam Jones – CF
- JJ Hardy – SS
- Nolan Reimold – LF
- Jonathan Schoop – 2B
- Caleb Joseph – C
Lead Photo Credit: Kim Klement – USA Today Sports Images