Gamethread: White Sox at Twins

Earlier this week, I thought I’d be happy with a split of this four-game series in Minnesota.

Not anymore. I’m looking at the standings and seeing that a win in today’s finale would pull the White Sox to within three games of the first-place Minnesota Twins. The Guardians’ game against the Tigers was postponed, so they aren’t going anywhere, which means a win would put the South Siders in a tie for second place going into the All-Star Break.

I want this win.

And the White Sox are sending the right guy to the hill to get it.

Dylan Cease, who is an All-Star in all of our hearts, gets the start today. Cease has been Chicago’s most dependable starter in the first half, riding a 2.30 ERA to a record of 8-4.

Cease will need to be on top of his game today. The White Sox are missing two big bats in today’s lineup, as both Luis Robert (lightheadedness) and Eloy Jiménez (right leg tightness) are trapped in a weird Twilight Zone between injury and actually being placed on the injured list. Come to think of it, most any injured White Sox player ends up in that zone, but that’s just how the Hahn/La Russa machine rolls.

The Twinkies line up like this:

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CT and can be seen and head in the usual places.

This is a big game, y’all. Let’s go get it.