Interleague baseball hits the Windy City on Tuesday, as the Chicago White Sox begin a brief two-game series with the San Francisco Giants.
The Giants have lost six of their last seven, yet still hold the Majors' best record and the largest division lead in all of baseball - 6.5 games ahead of the LA Dodgers.
Chicago is also staring down a rough stretch of their own, dropping four straight and seven of nine to fall to the cellar of a suddenly up-for-grabs AL Central.
Snapshot:
Home: Chicago White Sox (33-37, 13-16 home)
Away: San Francisco Giants (43-27, 20-12 away)
Key Stat:
If the Chicago White Sox are to ascend to the top of the AL Central, their biggest improvement will need to come on defense.
The Southsiders' 53 errors tie them for second-worst in the Major Leagues.
Giants Notes:
Even though the Giants left Sunday's 8-7 loss to the Rockies having been swept by their Rocky Mountain rivals, they come out of it feeling lucky after their All-Star catcher sidestepped a potential concussion.
Buster Posey came out of the game in the fourth inning after taking a hard foul tip off his mask. Posey had a headache after leaving the field, so manager Bruce Bochy sent Hector Sanchez up to bat in Posey's spot in the bottom half the inning.
However, concussion tests conducted on Posey came back negative, meaning that he should be clear to fly with the team to Chicago on Monday.
“I feel fine,” Posey said, via Andrew Baggerly of CSN Bay Area. “It stung me a little bit but everything feels normal. They’ll check in with me later tonight and tomorrow morning, just to make sure nothing has changed.”
White Sox Notes:
After falling to a season-worst four games under .500 after a 6-3 loss to Kansas City on Sunday, the Chicago White Sox are remaining composed after suffering a sweep at the hands of the suddenly resurgent Royals.
‘‘We’re scuffling a little bit, and that’s part of the game,’’ said Gordon Beckham, via the Chicago Sun-Times ‘‘I don’t think it’s a lack of effort. Sometimes baseball goes in this up-and-down cycle.
‘‘I’m not worried about the team. I just think we have to get a little bit better in terms of pitching and hitting.’’
With all five teams in the AL Central separated by just 5.5 games, finding their stride in both areas could mean huge (and quick) gains in the standings.
What to Watch For:
Do everything in your power to get off work on Wednesday afternoon, as the series finale provides one of the best interleague pitching matchups of the year - Chicago's Chris Sale vs. SF's Tim Hudson.
While Sale (5-1, 1.97) doesn't qualify for most statistical categories yet after missing a month due to injury, his unreal 0.67 WHIP in nine starts would lead the Majors by ten full points over the Reds' Johnny Cueto.
Hudson (7-2, 1.81) is no slouch either, as he may be having the season of his career in his 16th year in the bigs. He currently has the Majors' best ERA, and he is the only qualified starter left in the Majors to have given up less than 20 earned runs (18).
What They're Saying About the Giants:
Bochy ejected near end of frustrating game (Official Site of the Giants)
Fan catches home run while holding baby at Giants/Rockies game (SFGate.com)
What They're Saying About the White Sox:
White Sox defense is still a work in progress (Daily Herald)
AL Central is tight, but skidding White Sox must address ills (Chicago Sun-Times)
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