The Chicago White Sox are taking their show on the road and traveling to Canada to take on the Toronto Blue Jays in a three-game set. The White Sox come into this series with a record of 23-23 and are sitting at .500 while the Blue Jays are 27-20. These two teams always play one another tough and this promises to be a good series.
The first game on Tuesday features ace Lucas Giolito going up against Kevin Gausman. Giolito, who hasn’t played that much this year yet thanks to injury and COVID, comes in with a record of 3-1, an ERA of 2.63, and 51 strikeouts. When he’s good he’s great and if Giolito is on point, this will be a close game.
Gausman heads into Tuesday’s matchup with a record of 4-3, an ERA of 2.25, and 65 strikeouts. It appears as if this pitching matchup could be even. The White Sox and the Blue Jays will both have their work cut out for one another in this one.
Wednesday, the first day of June, will see White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech (who it seems we haven’t seen in forever) take on Hyun Jin Ryu. Ryu comes into Wednesday’s contest with a record of 2-0 with an ERA of 5.48 and 12 strikeouts.
Kopech, who is playing after his dominant performance against the New York Yankees a little over a week ago, enters this game with a record of 1-1, an ERA of 1.29, and 39 strikeouts. If the White Sox can get any kind of offense going, this should be a win for the Sox.
The Chicago White Sox needs some big pitching performances this week to win.
The final matchup of the series on Thursday features Johnny Cueto against Alex Manoah. Cueto stumbled a bit in his last start against the Chicago Cubs and that stumbling was just enough to cost the White Sox a win.
He comes into Thursday’s game with a record of 0-1, a 2.41 ERA, and 14 strikeouts. He has not played as much after having spent the start of this season in the minors.
Manoah enters the game with a record of 5-1, an ERA of 1.77, and 52 strikeouts. If you go by the numbers, Manoah is the better pitcher of two but if Cueto can settle down and play as he did against the Yankees recently, this could be a good pitching matchup.
The offense will be the key for the White Sox. If they can get enough hits and their pitchers don’t suffer breakdowns like they have been prone to do lately, the White Sox could emerge from this with a series win. It will be interesting to see who can outduel the other in a strong pitching week.