Gamethread: Blue Jays at White Sox (PPD, rain)

The game has been postponed due to rain, to be made up tomorrow as part of a straight doubleheader, beginning at 4:10 p.m. CT.

Now having dropped the first game in seven consecutive series, the White Sox (37-50) are aiming to bounce back tonight against a Blue Jays (46-40) side clinging to the chase for the American League’s final Wild Card spot. They snapped a three-game losing streak of their own last night, when Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s late long ball gave Toronto a 4-3 lead that went final, cancelling out Luis Robert Jr.’s latest contribution to a 2023 highlight reel that’s shaping up to be one for the ages.

Lance Lynn has his eyes on a win streak of his own tonight, as the Sox have won two straight outings from the Big Bastard, one short of his season high. Lynn was a mixed bag when he faced the Jays back in April, when he allowed four earned runs across five innings, but he’s certainly pitching differently than he was three months ago. Pitch tracking didn’t pick up a slider in Lynn’s arsenal at any point during his first 13 starts of the year, but suddenly, it made up 30% of his offerings during his last start in Anaheim. It’s a unique pitch for Lynn, unlike anything that Statcast has ever seen him throw, a purely vertical up-and-down slider in the low- to mid-80s that’s quite distinct from his typical high-80s cutter and high-70s curveball. It’ll be interesting to see how much he utilizes it tonight.

Toronto counters with José Berríos, who we are more than familiar with: This will be his 24th career start against the Pale Hose, three more than he’s made against any other team. He’s done pretty well in that time, working to a 3.26 ERA and a 13-6 record. He completely shut down the White Sox when he saw them at Rogers Center earlier in the spring, tossing seven four-hit innings without being made to work too hard for it.

Notwithstanding the perpetual game of musical chairs at the bottom of the lineup, the spine of this lineup has become what we might call the Grifol regular, with the top five remaining unchanged from last night, Yasmani Grandal taking his turn from Seby Zavala behind the plate, Oscar Colás having displaced Gavin Sheets as the RF-vs-RHP-du-jour, and whichever combination of Elvis Andrus, Jake Burger, and Leury García Romy González Zach Remillard he saw in the clouds on the way to the ballpark this morning.

Toronto runs out a lineup comprising mostly of what fans were already treated to last night; Cavan Biggio earns a start at the keystone after a pinch-run appearance yesterday, and Danny Jansen takes over behind the plate from Alejandro Kirk.

First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Chicago and ESPN-AM 1000. See you in the comments!