After a nifty 3-1 start to this 10-game home stand, White Sox pitchers have given up 37 runs in 29 innings, beginning with the big blown save on Tuesday and on through three games where opponents have scored 12, 10, and 10.
Maybe the right man is on the mound tonight to try to stop the hemorrhaging: Last time out Shane Smith tossed the best game of his career, a masterful seven shutout innings of one-hit ball against the Royals. The Yankees hit a trifle better than Kansas City — OK, a whole lot better,
at an MLB-leading 5.27 runs per game clip — but, hey, good pitching is supposed to beat good hitting every time, right?
The Yankees counter with big (6´6´´, 225) rookie righty Cam Schlittler, who sports a nifty 2.76 ERA and has only been getting better, allowing one total run in his last three starts. The White Sox best hope may be wildness, because Schlittler has walked 19 in 42 1/3 innings. He fires a 98 mph four-seamer 58% of the time, followed by a cutter and curve.
Schlittler will be facing a Sox lineup that has Brooks Baldwin in center for the injured Louis Robert Jr., and an infield shifting around to cover for the IL stint of Miguel Vargas.
Smith will get a break tonight, with the absences of Giancarlo Stanton and Paul Goldschmidt from the Yankees lineup.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. Central on a perfect night for baseball, 71° at game time with light wind from left to right. Usual broadcast suspects.
