Fresh off of last night’s victory, which resulted in nice beer shower for the winning skipper, the Sox prepare for tonight’s ESPN Sunday Night Baseball matchup, the finale of their opening series in Arlington. How mad is ESPN that Yu Darvish isn’t starting?
Tonight’s lineup, assuming the heavy thunderstorms that are currently being reported clear up:
De Aza – CF
Beckham – 2B
Dunn – DH
Konerko – 1B
Rios – RF
Pierzynski – C
Ramirez – SS
Viciedo – LF
Escobar – 3B
3 games, 3 lineups. Upon giving Brent Lillibridge and Tyler Flowers starts yesterday Ventura said that he wants to get guys in the lineup early, and not have them sitting on the bench for extended periods of time before they’re called upon. And so tonight, Brent Morel will have to sit and think about his struggles thus far, making way for Eduardo Escobar to make his mark. It’s not a full debut for Esco, he’s got a pair of hits in his cup of coffee last season but I’m sure he’ll have all the same nerves as a debut. Just a rubber match against the defending league champions on national television. No big deal, kiddo, go get ‘em!
Dayan Viciedo is back in the lineup against Rangers lefty Matt Harrison. Harrison had a good year last season for Texas in his first full year as a starter and also turned in a very high quality spring performance. He’s a groundball pitcher, so I expect to have my newfound patience in Alex Rios tested if he comes to the plate with runners on tonight.
Gavin Floyd, tonight’s White Sox starter, has pitched fairly well against the Rangers in his career. Josh Hamilton has the strongest career numbers against him, batting .600 but in only 10 at-bats. A little support would be nice. These close games are fun and all, but I’m in favor of a comfortable blowout.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @2012WhiteSox and keep up to date with all of Southside Showdown’s happenings by liking our Facebook page.