Gamethread: Cardinals at White Sox

Happy Sunday! The Chicago White Sox will play their final game of this disappointing first half, taking on the St. Louis Cardinals this afternoon. Lucas Giolito will be on the mound, facing Steven Matz.

Giolito has been the most solid starter for the White Sox this year, as he currently has a 6-5 record, 3.50 ERA, and 1.17 WHIP. His last outing was against the Toronto Blue Jays, where he went six innings with four hits, two runs, and four strikeouts. His past two outings before that included nine-strikeout and 10-strikeout performances.

The Cardinals will throw out lefty Matz, and this is a pitcher the team should be able to hit. So hopefully that means they won’t get shut out again. Matz does not have a single win this season, as he is 0-7 with a 5.02 ERA and 1.60 WHIP. He has started in 10 games and came in relief in eight, and his last outing was against the Miami Marlins where he went 2 1⁄3 innings with three hits, two runs, and one strikeout. He uses a mix of four pitches, with his sinker being used the most at 55%. He follows with a changeup (26.3%), curveball (16.4%), and slider (1.9%).

Andrew Benintendi will get the day off, even though he will be getting an entire week off, so Zach Remillard will lead it off. Tim Anderson and Luis Robert Jr. will follow. Eloy Jiménez is at DH and Andrew Vaughn and Jake Burger take the infield corners. Oscar Colás and Seby Zavala will follow, and Elvis Andrus takes second base.

Game time is at 1:10 p.m. CT and you can watch on NBCSCHI and listen in on ESPN 1000. I will be watching from the beautiful country of Guatemala myself, so hopefully they don’t waste my time.