Raise your hand if you penciled in Conor Gillaspie as the White Sox third-place hitter for even one game this season. If your hand is up, stop lying and put your hand back down.
In what might be a perfect synopsis of the 2013 season for the White Sox offense, Conor Gillaspie, the player acquired to fill the backup third baseman position on the roster right before spring training, is batting third against Oakland’s Jarrod Parker.
Part of the reason Gillaspie is batting third is that Paul Konerko is still out with a sore neck and shoulder. Also, Alex Rios is receiving a day off, with recently acquired Casper Wells playing right field. Jordan Danks, who was just brought up with DeWayne Wise being placed on the 15-day DL with a hamstring injury, gets the start in center field, pushing Alejandro De Aza to left field and Dayan Viciedo to being the designated hitter.
White Sox Lineup:
Alejandro De Aza, LF
Alexei Ramirez, SS
Conor Gillaspie, 3B
Dayan Viciedo, DH
Adam Dunn, 1B
Casper Wells, RF
Jordan Danks, CF
Tyler Flowers, C
Tyler Greene, 2B
The one piece of good news for the White Sox heading into this game is that Chris Sale is taking the mound. Although Sale allowed a two-run homer to Wellington Castillo in his rain-shortened outing against the Cubs (what didn’t go wrong in that series?), he is still the White Sox’s best hope of breaking the current five-game losing streak.
The Athletics counter with only one left-handed batter in Josh Reddick as the White Sox try to salvage the last game in the series in Oakland, their notorious house of horrors.
Athletics Lineup:
Coco Crisp, CF
Jed Lowrie, 2B
Yoenis Cespedes, LF
Josh Donaldson, 3B
Nate Freiman, 1B
Chris Young, DH
Josh Reddick, RF
Derek Norris, C
Adam Rosales, SS