For their first West Coast road trip of the year, the Chicago White Sox need to find some gold. They’re looking to do so against the hot Athletics, who are 9-4 in their last 13 games. It’ll be a tall task, but if the Sox were able to dig deep and sweep the Toronto Blue Jays, they’ll have to find that same energy against the A’s to turn the season around.
Ahead of tonight’s series start, the Sox made the following roster move:
Doug Nikhazy has two career MLB games under his belt, his most recent — coming the same year he made his debut — on July 4, 2025. Drafted as a starting pitcher in 2021’s second round, Nikhazy will take up a bulk-innings role in the bullpen.
With the bullpen acting as a revolving door to begin this season, the stable Davis Martin will take the bump for the South Siders, and he’s been a bright spot for the struggling Sox. For one, he’s been the only Sox starter to notch a seven-inning start this season, although the Sox did lose that game, 2-0, against the Kansas City Royals. Second, while this game takes skill, we all know it takes luck too, and Martin has been on the receiving end. Between too good to be true 2.50 ERA (5.07 xERA) and being in the bottom 10% for ground ball and hard-hit rates as a pitcher known for inducing the ground ball, Davis has been able to overcome the numbers and help manufacture a couple of wins for the Good Guys. Hopefully, tonight, the numbers and luck continue to feed off each other for a White Sox victory.
Longtime AL Central foe and former White Sox (for 13 starts!) Aaron Civale will share the mound with Martin this evening. In his first season with the Athletics, Civale has been worth his one-year, $6 million deal so far: Across three starts, Civale is pitching to the tune of a 1.72 ERA (3.72 xERA) and has only given up three earned runs while coming off a 5 2/3-inning shutout performance against the New York Mets. Unlike Martin, Civale has yet to pitch into the seventh inning, and I know our Sox would love nothing more than to head into the A’s bullpen early.
Here’s the lineup looking to make it happen:
Given his eight-way tie for second on the MLB triples leader board, Andrew “Wheels” Benintendi (2) finds himself leading off while the normal leadoff hitter, Chase Meidroth, drops down to the eighth spot.
In the home dugout, the A’s will assemble like so:
To counteract the wheels of Beninchickentendies, Tyler Soderstrom and Max Muncy, with one triple apiece, will bat fourth and sixth. In a five-way tie for third on the MLB leader board with six home runs, Shea Langliers bats second.
For your late-night West Coast viewing pleasure, you can catch tonight’s Sox game on CHSN at 8:40 p.m. CT.
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