Gamethread: Diamondbacks at White Sox

Ah, the drama of late September baseball!

On the one side, today, we have the Arizona Diamondbacks on the verge of locking in a playoff slot. Conversely, we have the Chicago White Sox, just two failures away from reaching the elusive 100-loss level. And in the stands, we have a bunch of people who got tickets for $1 and are hoping they didn’t overpay.

The Sox will need to win three out of their final four games not to make 100, so today isn’t a must-lose situation, but it would undoubtedly help the journey along.

Trying to make that not happen will be Touki Toussaint, who has a 5.10 ERA and has issued 49 walks in 79 innings but whose last two starts were excellent. Trying to help the path to 100 along will be Diamondbacks rookie reliever Bryce Jarvis, at least for an inning or two, as he makes his first major league start.

Jarvis and whoever comes along after him, be it a regular starter or a load of relievers, will be facing a White Sox lineup that hasn’t scored since the second inning on Tuesday. Well, not exactly the same, but close enough.

Toussaint will be taking on an Arizona lineup with Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who was a late scratch yesterday because of a shoulder issue, back in left field.

The first pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. Central, with a temp of 66 and moderate winds forecast to come in from the left field corner — usual broadcast suspects.