Gamethread: Cubs at White Sox

You know, it would really just make my holiday weekend a whole lot better if the Chicago White Sox could summon the strength not to get swept by the Chicago Cubs.

You might be thinking, "Well, Jacki, I don't think it should be too difficult for the Sox to dispose of a 19-26 team who just let the Cinncinati Reds score 20 runs on them." And you'd be right. But if the 2022 season has taught us anything so far, it's that this White Sox team rarely makes things easy for themselves.

Also, not sure if you’ve checked, but as of today the White Sox are only three games better than the Cubs.

Dylan Cease takes the mound today, coming off of his shortest outing of the year. In his last start against the Boston Red Sox, Cease was tagged for eight hits and seven runs in just three innings of work. Will The Mustache be able to bounce back against a bad team? On paper, the answer is yes, but as the old saying goes, “that’s why you play the games.”

With many players unavailable/injured, Tony La Russa has fewer options to toy with, so his typical “Sunday Shakeup” looks more like an average lineup. (At least Josh Harrison isn’t batting second, because what the hell was that?!)

Cubs’ manager David Ross sends ’em out like this:

First pitch at Guaranteed Rate Field is scheduled for 1:10 pm CT. If you’re local, you can catch the Sox broadcast at NBC Sports Chicago (or The Marquee Network if you want to dip your toes into the dark side, but I feel dirty just for sideways support of Sinclair). Len and DJ will also have the call on ESPN 1000 AM.

Cinch it up and hunker down Sox fans. It’s time to show Marcus Stroman all he could have had. Please, White Sox — just don’t embarrass me.