Gamethread: Rockies at White Sox

After winning back-to-back series in Seattle (79-61) and Oakland (51-90), the White Sox (72-69) return to Guaranteed Rate Field to face the Rockies (61-80). The South Siders are 9-3 in their last 12 games, but they are still three games behind the Guardians (74-65), who face the Angels (61-80) tonight.

Michael Kopech will start on the mound for the White Sox. Kopech enters this game with a 3.78 ERA, a 3.92 xERA, and a 4.50 FIP in 114 ¹⁄₃ innings. Those numbers render Kopech a 1.0-fWAR pitcher this season. Kopech faced the Rockies at Coors Field on July 26, when he threw 5 ¹⁄₃ shutout innings, and the White Sox won that game, 2-1. Kopech seems to be pushing his limit in terms of his workload this season, as he has struggled of late following a red-hot start to the season. An injury during warmups on August 22 did not help, but Kopech is looking to finish the season strong.

Chad Kuhl, a right-handed pitcher, will start for Colorado. Kuhl, 30, enters with a 5.38 ERA, a 5.29 xERA, and a 5.38 FIP in 117 innings, rendering him a 0.4-fWAR pitcher. This start will be the first time Kuhl has faced the White Sox during his six-year MLB career. Perhaps Kuhl’s biggest career accomplishment happened back on June 27, when he pitched a three-hit shutout against the star-studded Dodgers (97-43).

Here are tonight’s starting lineups:

Before the game, Rick Hahn had a few updates.

Best of luck to Tim Anderson, Tony La Russa, and Rick Hahn as they recover.

The first pitch is scheduled to take place at 7:10 p.m. Central. As usual, NBC Sports Chicago will televise the game, and WMVP 1000 AM will have the radio coverage.