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Gamethread: White Sox at Twins

Luis Robert is back in center field for the South Siders

MLB: Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox
Back in action: Luis Robert is making his big return to the lineup.
Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

After a thrilling three-game sweep at Wrigley Field, the White Sox (66-46) are back in action. Tonight’s game will be the opener of a three-game series in Minnesota against the Twins (48-64). The South Siders are 12-4 against Minnesota this season, and this will be the last series of the season between these two teams.

Lucas Giolito will start on the mound for the White Sox. In 2021, Giolito has a 3.98 ERA, 3.30 xERA, 4.07 FIP, and 2.4 fWAR. Giolito has faced the Twins twice this season, and like most White Sox pitchers, his numbers have been strong against them. In those two games, Giolito has pitched 14 innings, and he has a 2.57 ERA. Twins hitters have a slash line of only .178/.245/.333 against him.

Beau Burrows, a 24-year-old right-handed pitcher, will start on the mound for the Twins. Burrows has only pitched nine innings in the majors this season, and he is off to a slow start (11.00 ERA, 8.80 xERA, 7.06 FIP, -0.2 fWAR). Burrows was a first round pick (No. 22 overall) by the Tigers in 2015, but he has yet to find his footing in MLB.

Here are tonight’s starting lineups:

Earlier this afternoon, the White Sox made the following announcement:

That’s right, folks. At long last, Luis Robert is back!

Gavin Sheets, 25, who was slashing .225/.293/.483 (111 wRC+) with 0.1 fWAR in 29 games, will be heading to Triple-A Charlotte. Best of luck to Sheets with the Knights, and his first MLB stint will certainly not be his last.

Also, Luis González, another 25-year-old outfielder, was released. Best of luck to González, who was drafted by the White Sox in the third round in 2017 and has been in the organization since. A return to the organization is still quite possible.

Shortly before the game, the White Sox also made this announcement:

Best wishes to the greatest play-by-play announcer in sports. We all hope Benetti recovers soon.

Tonight’s game will start at 7:10 p.m. Central. As usual, NBC Sports Chicago will televise it, and amazingly, for the second night in a row, ESPN is airing a White Sox game. WMVP 1000 AM will have the radio coverage. Let’s keep the win streak going.