Gamethread: Twins at White Sox

The Chicago White Sox (46-32) will look to ensure the series win tonight against the Minnesota Twins (33-44). The Twins made yesterday’s game close despite falling behind by five runs early. In doing so, Minnesota provided some insight as to what their offense is capable of.

A lot has happened in the last 24 hours, including Lucas Giolito calling Josh Donaldson a pest, among other things. After Donaldson’s disrespectful comment, Giolito and fans poked some fun with it. If you want to see for yourself, just look through the #DonaldsonFacts hashtag on Twitter.

Another hamstring injury strikes, as Aaron Bummer will head to the injured list along with Evan Marshall due to a strained right flexor pronator, whatever that is. Jace Fry gets called up from Charlotte to return to the team for the first time this year. And Michael Kopech is back in the bullpen, which may be the best news of all.

Other than that, let’s take a look at the starting pitchers for tonight’s game.

Dylan Cease will be on the mound tonight for the South Siders, as he looks to get his seventh win of the season. He currently sits at a 3.81 ERA and 1.31 WHIP, with 96 strikeouts in 75 ²⁄₃ innings. His last start was against the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he went 5 ²⁄₃ innings with seven hits, seven strikeouts, and just one earned run. This Twins lineup has been explosive recently, so it will be interesting to see how well he can pitch against them.

Righty Bailey Ober will be on the mound for the Twins, as he appears in his sixth game of the season. He currently has a 4.64 ERA with a 1.31 WHIP. Ober has pitched just 21 ¹⁄₃ innings, and his inning total is low because most of his outings have been short. His last start, which was against the Cincinnati Reds, was a struggle for him. In that game, Ober went just 4 ¹⁄₃ innings while allowing six hits, four earned runs, and two walks. He is mainly a fastball pitcher (59.7% of the time) and also throws a changeup, slider, and curveball.

Tim Anderson will lead it off, followed by Yoán Moncada back in the lineup in the 2-spot. José Abreu and Yasmani Grandal will be back out there, and Brian Goodwin will change his spot in the order, now batting fifth. Yermín Mercedes, who had a great last game against the Seattle Mariners, is back in the lineup. Gavin Sheets looks to build off of his great debut yesterday, as Andrew Vaughn and Leury García end the order.

The game is scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m. CT. You can tune in on NBC Sports Chicago and listen in on ESPN 1000. The forecast is finally looking clear, so hopefully we can get through the game without any delays and get another win!