The White Sox and Indians play the rare straight doubleheader today starting at 4 p.m., and the scheduled starters needed some time to emerge.
Robin Ventura took his time to decide that Hector Santiago will go before Jose Quintana, but Cleveland's starters aren't even on the roster yet. The MLB.com pitching schedules have Trevor Bauer going in Game 1, and Carlos Carrasco in Game 2.
Three of the four starters have a history of inefficiency, which would be kind of the pitching slate a decent offense could use to its advantage. Given what we've seen, Carrasco's 0-3 record, 7.78 ERA and 1.88 WHIP are only theoretically encouraging.
But Bauer is the more interesting case, as he's made three starts with the Indians with mismatched peripherals:
Otherwise, he's spent most of the season in Columbus, where he's faced the Charlotte Knights twice with equally strange results.
Most recently, he picked up the win on June 14 by allowing two runs over five innings on June 14, limiting the damage from four hits and four walks. But that has nothing on what he did in Game 1 of a doubleheader on May 7:
IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K | HBP | |
Bauer | 6.2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 4 |
He was one out away from throwing a no-hitter -- albeit a seven-inning one -- but when he started the final inning with his fourth walk and fourth HBP, that put him in treacherous pitch-count territory. Even after a sac bunt and a lineout put him back on track, he was pulled after 106 pitches.
Reliever Preston Guilmet allowed four runs to score, including both of Bauer's, before recording the last out.
Anyway, I mention this for two reasons:
No. 1: He's walked 28 batters over 32⅔ major-league innings, so it'd be interesting if Terry Francona started him in the first game.
No. 2: An Indians pitcher drilling White Sox hitters early and often? Well I never!
If you're planning on hitting the doubleheader but don't have tickets, outfield seats are $15 if you're wearing Blackhawks apparel.