Gamethread: White Sox at Brewers

Happy Sunday! Tonight, we will have some Sunday Night Baseball and it will be your Chicago White Sox against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. After losing the first two games and only scoring two runs total in this series, the South Siders are looking to get the win to change their momentum going into the new week.

Speaking of changing momentum, we have some big news that came out before the game today.

If this doesn’t give the team some excitement, I don’t know what will. It has been a long time coming, but Eloy Jiménez will return to the team tomorrow, providing some much needed spark and offensive power to the lineup.

First, the focus should be winning today, in another pitchers’ duel with a couple of baseball’s best.

Lance Lynn will take the mound for the second time since his contract was extended, with his 9-3 record, 1.94 ERA, and 1.02 WHIP. Lynn had a great start in his last outing against the Minnesota Twins, where he went seven innings with five four hits and one run. That one lone run was on a home run by Nelson Cruz, who we luckily won’t have to deal with as much anymore, at least in a Twins uniform.

Lynn’s 4-seam fastball will be his main focus today, which he throws 42.7% of the time, followed by his cutter at 32.3%. His sinker, changeup, and curveball will make an appearance as well.

Righty Brandon Woodruff will be on the mound for the Brewers. Woodruff is 7-4 with a MLB-best 2.04 ERA and 0.83 WHIP. His last start was against the Cincinnati Reds, where he went 5 ²⁄₃ innings while only giving up two hits and one run. He also had eight strikeouts in that outing. Woodruff relies on his fastball 33.4% of the time, followed by his sinker thrown 28.5%. He also has a curveball, changeup, and slider that are used interchangeably.

Tim Anderson will lead it off, followed by Gavin Sheets getting the start in right field. José Abreu and Yoán Moncada will bat ahead of Andrew Vaughn, who has had a great series at the plate so far. Brian Goodwin will play center today, followed by Leury García at second base, and Seby Zavala behind the plate. Don’t forget the power at the bottom of the lineup, as Lynn will bat today because, National League rules.

Game time will be at 6:08 p.m. CT. No Jason and Steve today, as the game will be nationally televised on ESPN. Listen in on ESPN 1000.

Let’s do it for Hawk, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame today, given the Ford C. Frick Award, and provided a speech to go along with it. As someone who grew up with him in the booth, I can’t think of a better recipient. Let’s play some winning ball now!