The White Sox are back at it tonight, looking to build on yesterday’s 11-5 win after consistently showing some life at the plate. Winners of three of their last four, the South Siders will try to string together another strong performance against the Diamondbacks. It was just the first time they had scored more than nine tallies over their first 23 games.
Last night was, in every sense, a blast. Four home runs left the yard, including the chaos-filled, blink-and-you-miss-it inside-the-park homer from
Sam Antonacci and Munetaka Murakami’s ninth bomb. For the fourth straight game, Chicago’s lineup actually resembled something functional.
Tonight’s cautious optimism starts with Anthony Kay. The southpaw (1-0, 2.60 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) has been solid through his first four appearances, even if he hasn’t quite provided length. His longest outing so far has been 5 2/3 innings, which means the bullpen has had to do plenty of heavy lifting. Still, he’s kept the Sox competitive, and at this point, that’s not nothing. If Kay can push a little deeper into the game while maintaining that effectiveness, the South Siders’ chances look a lot better.
On the other side, the Diamondbacks hand the ball to Eduardo Rodríguez, who has been exactly what you don’t want to see if you’re hoping for another offensive breakout. The lefty (1-0, 1.96 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) has been excellent through four outings, including a pair of quality starts. He’s limited damage, worked efficiently, and generally made life difficult for opposing hitters, holding opponents to a .218 BA. In other words, this isn’t exactly shaping up as another obvious “get-right” spot for the Sox offense, even if last night suggested they might be trending in that direction.
So the key question seems all too familiar. Is the 33-run offensive explosion over the last four games the start of something, or are we experiencing just a fun but brief detour? The good news is it took until May 2 for the club to win their ninth game last season, so we’re at least ahead of the curve there.
The Good Guys will once again try to piece together enough offense to support a starter who’s giving them a fighting chance.
Here’s how skipper Will Venable sends them out to face Rodríguez.
The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, will look to do what good teams tend to do — win with steady pitching, timely hits, and capitalizing on mistakes.
The first pitch is set for 8:40 p.m. CST. You can watch on CHSN or listen on ESPN 1000.
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