Gamethread: Reds at White Sox

The White Sox (89-68) will host the Reds (82-75) on Tuesday for the first of a two-game series. The South Siders have five regular season games remaining and are very likely to be the American League’s No. 3 seed. The Astros (91-65), the projected No. 2 seed, will probably have home field advantage during their matchup against the White Sox in the ALDS. Houston has a 2.5-game lead over the White Sox, and they hold the tiebreaker if they finish with the same record.

Reynaldo López will start on the mound for the South Siders. In 51 ¹⁄₃ MLB innings this season, López has a 3.16 ERA, 3.70 xERA, 3.90 FIP, and 0.7 fWAR. López has been a surprising story, as he struggled in Triple-A (7.62 ERA, 4.49 FIP, 4.42 xFIP in 39 innings) before becoming quite useful for the major league pitching staff. In his last start, López allowed two runs (both earned) in three and one-third innings against Cleveland. On the bright side, López struck out four without issuing any walks, and the White Sox won by a score of 7-2.

Facing the White Sox will be 26-year-old righthander Riley O’Brien, who will be making his MLB debut. O’Brien pitched 112 ²⁄₃ innings in Triple-A this season, posting a 4.55 ERA, 4.79 FIP, and 4.61 xFIP.

Here are tonight’s starting lineups:

Tonight’s game will start at 7:10 p.m. Central. NBC Sports Chicago will televise it, and WMVP 1000 AM will have the radio coverage. Time to get win No. 90, which the White Sox have not done since 2006.