Let’s Stop This Losing Streak Business – Lineups 5/1

Thinks aren’t going so great right now. The losing streak is at 3, Jose Quintana’s stretch of solid starts has come to an end, and April has turned into May. As the calendar crawls forward we get closer and closer to the point where “it’s still early” is no longer a usable excuse. For now it is, though, so we needn’t place any sort of must win burdens on Chris Sale tonight. We don’t need the offense to figure how to hit right now before all is lost. In fact, the offense performed admirably last night. Six runs in a game will generally do nicely. Putting runs on the board against one of the hottest pitchers in the game is a bonus. Tonight, the competition isn’t nearly as stiff from a pitching standpoint. Nick Tepesch doesn’t have the name recognition or the arsenal that Yu Darvish has. In fact, Tepesch has only 4 major league starts to his name. He’s performed well overall, carrying a 2.53 ERA to this point, however with two of those starts coming against the Mariners and one each against the Twins and Rays, he’s yet to be tested by a high-octane offense. Even the most enthusiastic Sox fan would be hard pressed to say that he is going to be tested by one tonight, though the Pale Hose are, in fact, capable of scoring runs, even if they are one of three teams that are yet to score 8 runs in a game this young season.

2013 Chris Sale is on pace to double the amount of outings in which he completed 7 innings in 2012. He’s had some trouble keeping the ball down and the result has been more fly balls, which inevitably turn into more homeruns. Rangers Ballpark isn’t as dinger friendly as The Cell, but it definitely yields more than average, so if Sale can bring his regular stuff and keep it down to hitters, he has a solid shot at continuing his trend of going deep into the game, and lessening the chance of the third straight game with a bullpen meltdown.

Speaking of bullpen, Donnie Veal has been optioned, and Brian Omogrosso has been called up to take his spot on the roster. Donnie was a good pitcher, and a good man. He was one of us. He was a man that loved the bullpen, and pitching…

Today’s Lineup:

1. De Aza – LF
2. Keppinger – 2B
3. Rios – RF
4. Dunn – DH
5. Konerko – 1B
6. Gillaspie – 3B
7. Alexei – SS
8. Flowers – C
9. Wise – CF

Jeff Keppinger is back in the lineup, and DeWayne Wise will try to stay hot and build upon his 4-4 for last night.

Texas Rangers Lineup:

1. Ian Kinsler – 2B
2. Elvis Andrus – SS
3. Lance Berkman – DH
4. Adrian Beltre – 3B
5. Nelson Cruz – RF
6. Jeff Baker – LF
7. Mitch Moreland – 1B
8. Geovany Soto – C
9. Craig Gentry – CF

A.J. Pierzynski misses another game with a sore right oblique and will continue to be day-to-day.

Where to Watch
Today’s White Sox game will be shown on WCIU for the Chicago area and will be broadcast on Sun Sports forFox Sports Southwest for the DFW area. 7:05 Central start time.