Just a four-game sweep of the Angels and they’ll be on their way! – Lineups 5/16

The White Sox won two games in a row in Minnesota and racked up 13 combined runs while facing starting pitching luminaries such as Kevin Correia and Mike Pelfrey. Their offense is fixed! Adam Dunn and Dayan Viciedo are making adjustments! They have the same record as they had at this point last season! No one’s running away with the AL Central!

It’s easy to get very carried away, very quickly

And Hector isn’t helping. But some sustained success, or avenging an embarrassing home series loss against a fairly miserable opponent would go a long way to making open expressions of faith and hope in this team seem more grounded.

Today’s Lineup:

1. Alejandro De Aza – CF
2. Alexei Ramirez – SS
3. Alex Rios – RF
4. Adam Dunn – 1B
5. Paul Konerko – DH
6. Conor Gillaspie – 3B
7. Dayan Viciedo – LF
8. Jeff Keppinger – 2B
9. Tyler Flowers – C

Jose Quintana – SP

Hopefully Dunn and Viciedo are truly made anew because a healthy Conor Gillaspie is the only real difference between this lineup and the group that was shut down by Jerome Williams and repeatedly betrayed Jose Quintana on defense last Saturday.

Instances where two separate series with the same team are so close together that all the pitching matchups repeat themselves really ruins the spice and randomness of the regular season. What can Jose Quintana see when he looks at Jerome Williams but a relic of tortured memories of having to cover first base after inducing a popup to right field. Quintana’s statistical record has a surprising 3.72 ERA and an even more surprising 2-1 given win-loss record seeing that I associate his season with misfortune and woe.

Angels’ Lineup:

1. Erick Aybar – SS
2. Mike Trout – CF
3. Albert Pujols – 1B
4. Mark Trumbo – RF
5. Josh Hamilton — DH
6. Howie Kendrick – 2B
7. Alberto Callaspo – 3B
8. Chris Iannetta – C
9. J.B. Shuck – LF

Jerome Williams, SP

Erick Aybar is back and the Angels apparently feel so good about their shortstop and his career .319 OBP that they’ll continue to keep last year’s MVP runner-up from the leadoff slot where he thrived last season. Josh Hamilton threw out two baserunners trying to score last weekend in Chicago, so it has to be nice to see Mark Trumbo out there for a change. Hamilton’s been making more contact of late, but his season line is still bad enough to wonder what good he is to the team if he’s not playing defense. Hey, remember 2011?

I never know what’s going to happen in these games, guys.

Where to Watch: CSN – Channel Guide