Gamethread: White Sox at Blue Jays

The Chicago White Sox aim to even the series at one against the Toronto Blue Jays.

In order to accomplish that goal, Iván Nova must put in another quality start. If he could match what he did against Cleveland on May 6, then the Sox will be in good shape. Nova went seven complete innings, gave up one run, struck out five, and he only yielded one walk.

As for the batting order, there is a bit of change from last night’s lineup.

James McCann finds his way back into the starting lineup, and he hits fifth. Yonder Alonso bats in front of McCann in the clean up spot. Considering McCann’s success batting fourth and Alonso’s season-long struggles, this does not make a lot of sense. Ricky Renteria is alternating left-handed and right-handed batters, but I do not agree with Alonso’s placement in the lineup.

However, I do appreciate that Charlie Tilson is back up to sixth in the batting order. Tilson moves to right field for this game, after he played a magnificent center last night. Nicky Delmonico falls to eighth in the order.

Yolmer Sánchez is back in the starting lineup; he bats ninth.

The opposition will put Marcus Stroman on the mound. Stroman’s last outing was against the Minnesota Twins on May 6. Stroman went 4 ²⁄₃ innings, gave up six runs (five earned), struck out two, and he gave up two walks.

The Blue Jays will put out an almost identical lineup from last night’s victory.

The only differences are the eighth and ninth spots. Billy McKinney will play right field, batting eighth. Luke Maile is Stroman’s battery mate, and he bats ninth. Additionally, Randal Grichuk moves from right field to center field.

Contrary to Grichuk, Stroman is all about respecting the bat flip. Game recognizes game. Let’s see if TA can hit another monster home run en route to a South Side victory this afternoon.

Overall, Stroman looks to have a bounce back performance, and Nova will attempt to have a repeat performance. Tune into NBC Sports Chicago and WGN-AM radio to find out who will prevail. Game time is 2:07 p.m. CT.