This Is Becoming A Real Pain In The A – Lineups 6/8

Sigh. The White Sox are in danger of not only losing 11 of their last 12, but also every single contest in which they’ve faced the Athletics. Chris Sale represented perhaps the Sox best chance of breaking up the monotony of losses, but even that got ruined. This afternoon they enter with a little less confidence behind the questionably conditioned arm of John Danks to keep Hawk Harrelson from ending it all in gruesome fashion. Certain folks are only able to handle so much losing.

Danks notched a “quality start” against the M’s his last time out as he gave up 3 earned runs over 6 innings. This type of outing should be appreciated, considering what he’s coming back from, but the attrition rate of the team’s starting pitchers, and the overall performance of the team itself makes it difficult to applaud anything less than stellar outings that result in wins. In just 3 starts, which forces me to point at the standard sample size disclaimer, Danks’ K rate has pushed back up to the 18% range, where it sat for his entire career pre-2012 and he’s managed to only walk 2 batters.

Tommy Milone has been steady but unspectacular for the A’s in 2013. I’m sure he’s disappointed he didn’t get a crack at this Sox lineup last series, but now he’ll get his chance to have a standout game just like everybody else. He went 7 in his last appearance, which could be considered standout: 2 runs on 7 innings at Miller Park.

Today’s Lineup:

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

If Josh Reddick had not trimmed his beard he may have been weighed down just enough for Conor Gillaspie to be a hero last night. Alas, he had the buoyancy to be where he needed to be, the Sox lost, and nobody flinches at Keppinger being put back into the lineup for platoon reasons. We’ll refrain from saying “platoon advantage” here.

Oakland Athletics Lineup:

1.Coco Crisp – CF
2.Josh Reddick – RF
3.Yoenis Cespedes – LF
4.Josh Donaldson – 3B
5.Jed Lowrie – 2B
6.Nate Freiman – 1B
7.Theth Thmith – DH
8.Derek Norris – C
9.Adam Rosales – SS

*Many apologies for the title of this post.

Where to Watch
Today’s game will be broadcast on WGN and CSNCA. 3:10 Central start time.