Gamethread: White Sox vs Royals

Happy Sunday! Today, the Kansas City Royals will face the Chicago White Sox in the third and final game of this set as the South Siders look to sweep the series and get one game closer to closing the gap in the ALC (that they put themselves into, of course). The team has played a good series against the Royals, and their pitching has been the strong suit. With that being said, let’s see if Lance Lynn will be able to continue that today as he takes the mound against Carlos Hernández.

Lynn hasn’t had the best year, as he is 2-5 with an evil 6.66 ERA, but his last outing was great, as he went seven innings with seven hits, one run, and seven strikeouts against the Cleveland Guardians. Everyone knows he is a good pitcher, it’s just a matter of time before he starts to show it. A good outing today would be great for him and the team, so hopefully he brings is good stuff like he did last outing.

The Royals pitching was TBA heading into today, but it looks like relief pitcher Hernández will take the mound to start this afternoon. He has appeared as a starter in just one game, and a relief pitcher in 18. His ERA sits at 4.09, and he has 28 strikeouts in 22 innings. He has spent his entire career with the Royals, and even represented Venezuela this year in the World Baseball Classic. We will see if being in a starting position today affects his rhythm, and hopefully we can jump on Hernández early.

Tim Anderson gets the day off after struggling mightily at the plate, and Andrew Benintendi will lead it off. Red-hot Jake Burger will move up to the 2-spot, followed by Luis Robert Jr. Yoán Moncada is at third, Yasmani Grandal is behind the plate, and Clint Frazier, who has been tearing it in Triple-A Charlotte, will get his first chance with the White Sox playing right field. (In the transaction, Jake Marisnick was designated for assignment.) Gavin Sheets is at first, Hanser Alberto is at second, and Romy González is the shortstop.

Game time is at 1:10 p.m. CT. Watch on NBCSCHI and listen in at ESPN1000.