Gamethread: White Sox at Pirates

The emotions White Sox fans experience after a loss are a rollercoaster. A rickety, unstable, decrepit rollercoaster that gives riders a whiplash they’ll be dealing with for days.

Now imagine that feeling for five games in a row.

It’s been five straight losses for the White Sox, and that isn’t good. Plain and simple. And it hurts even more that the White Sox are considered “World Series contenders” and couldn't even snag a win last night in Pittsburgh.

In baseball, anything can happen. Bad teams can play great games and good teams can play bad games, but, there’s something about these last five losses that make the fans hurt deep inside. It’s the fact that we’re all realizing this season could end up being like the last decade. (It won’t but ... maybe). A ray of hope smashed by dark clouds halfway through the season.

Sox fans, this is why we can’t have nice things.

But that’s a bunch of rubbish, because the White Sox are gonna snag the final game against Pittsburgh this afternoon.

Dylan Cease takes the mound for the Sox. Cease had one of his worst outings of the season last week against the Houston Astros, giving up six earned runs in 3 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched. Over his last seven games, he is 3-3, with a 5.19 ERA, and 20 strikeouts. On the season, he is 5-3 with a 3.99 ERA and 89 strikeouts.

His pitching isn’t the biggest focus of the game though — Cease returns to the batter's box for the first time since his three-hit night against the Cincinnati Reds. Let’s hope he can get this offense moving.

Here’s the lineup:

Chase De Jong will get the start for the Pirates. On the season, he is 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA and 17 strikeouts. He was promoted from the minors on May 30. He has pitched only four times for the Bucs, and three of his four starts have seen two runs or fewer.

Here’s how the Pirates look this afternoon:

The game starts at 11:35 a.m. CT. Jason Benetti and Frank Thomas call the game for NBCSChicago. Len Kasper and Darrin Jackson will have coverage on ESPN1000.

So sit back, relax, and watch Dylan Cease make those Pirates walk the plank!