Well, well, well, if it wasn’t for those meddling Chicago Cubs and our bullpen explosion, we would have come away with a victory last night. Not even a Scooby Doo reference can dull the late innings of yesterday’s ballgame; however, the Chicago White Sox have a new game in front of them this evening, with the chance to tie the series.
Our ace, Davis Martin (5-1, 1.62 ERA, 3.89 xERA), takes the mound, and he has been outstanding. Taking a look at his Baseball Savant page he’s been the total package
in overall run value, and almost exclusively throws strikes:
Even more importantly, he’s been a steady veteran presence with the power to right the ship whenever it has veered off-course. During last night’s broadcast, Mike Vasil was glowing about Martin and showed deep admiration for Davis’ routine and purpose behind every action he takes on and off the bump. If I can add one recommendation to the routine, if not already implemented: Let’s not give the Cubs anything tonight.
Sharing the mound, Jameson Taillon (2-2, 3.94 ERA, 4.21 xERA) notches the start for the Bad Guys. Like Martin, Taillon has also only given up three earned runs in his last two starts. Unlike Martin, Taillon has a hard time missing barrels:
Tonight is the perfect opportunity for the Sox power hitters, especially, to feast off Taillon. If they can hold up against the breaking ball, there’s a good chance the bottom half of the scoreboard will be full of runs.
Looking to the Sox lineup, Will Venable has really solidified his starting nine against right-handed pitchers:
Munetaka Murakami (15 homers) looks to break his slump and add to his home run total, while Miguel Vargas (10) and Colson Montgomery (12) look to homer in back-to-back games.
The North Siders will put out their starting nine like so:
Miguel Amaya starts at catcher, leaving Carson Kelly and last night’s four RBIs on the bench.
Game two of this three-game set between the Good Guys and Bad Guys starts at 6:10 p.m. CT on CHSN and ESPN 1000. Let’s even up the series!
