White Sox Set to Begin Series With Miami Marlins

Aug 9, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins teammates celebrate after winning the game San Francisco Giants 2-0 at Marlins Park. Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 9, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins teammates celebrate after winning the game San Francisco Giants 2-0 at Marlins Park. Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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White Sox are coming off of a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals in which they were only able to win one game. Carlos Rodon will take the mound to start a three-game series in Miami against the Marlins.

The White Sox managed to grab one game out of the series against the Royals in Kansas City. Chris Sale‘s seven innings of three-run ball were spoiled by the bullpen, a tale all too familiar this season, but the team was able to push across three runs in the top of the tenth inning to secure a victory against the Royals this past Monday night. The Royals took the next two games of the series.

The Miami Marlins will welcome the White Sox into Marlins Park for a three-game weekend set starting Friday night. Carlos Rodon will open the series against Andrew Cashner. Rodon has struggled all year with a 2-8 record and 4.49 earned run average. Cashner has not been much better, sporting a record of 4-8 with a 4.96 ERA. Still though, the Marlins remain in the thick of the hunt for a playoff berth with just under two months of regular season baseball left to play.

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The Marlins are fighting to maintain the second seed in the National League wild card race – a race that currently has five teams within five games of each other. Miami currently holds a half-game lead over the Cardinals, who are in Chicago for a four-game series against the Cubs. Even though the White Sox do not have much to fight for this season, they can still take on the role of spoiler for many teams down the stretch.

The White Sox stand little to no chance at making a run at the playoffs at this point in the season. The team currently sits nine games behind the first-place Indians in the central division and seven-and-a-half games behind the Boston Red Sox for the second wild card seed.

The post-deadline has been tough to watch for fans of the South Siders. What was once a promising season has now turned into  fans counting down the days until the annual Winter Meetings. At this rate it feels like it will be quite some time before the White Sox look competitive.

With the trade deadline as overwhelmingly disappointing as it was, fans have every reason to look forward to this offseason. Until then, the White Sox still have some baseball left to play and hopefully they will at least be able to make things interesting for the teams still in the race.

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James Shields (5-14, 5.43) will pitch on Saturday against Adam Conley (8-6, 3.70), and Chris Sale (14-5, 3.16) will do battle against Jose Fernandez (12-6, 2.81) in Sunday afternoon’s series closer.

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