The White Sox have been a big surprise this season having the best record in the AL and are red-hot winners of six in a row. They have won the first two games of this series with the Twins, who is the team chasing them in the division.
The Twins had won two in a row before losing the first two games of this series where they only totaled three runs. They are three games back of the White Sox in the AL Central and had won six in a row against them in the Windy City before dropping the first two games of this big series.
Nobody would have expected the White Sox to have the best record in the AL this late into the abbreviated season. However, they rank in the top five in the Majors in team ERA and runs scored and in their six-game win streak have only allowed a total of nine runs.
Twins could Use a Good Stark from Odorizzi
Jake Odorizzi (0-1 8.10 ERA) gets the call for the Twins in this game and the club could use a good start from him. He is recently back from the IL and has not pitched since August 22. All three of his starts this season were against the Kansas City Royals and in his last one, he was tagged up for five runs on seven hits in only three innings in a 7-2 loss. last season the Twins were 2-2 against the Sox when Odorizzi got the start.
Minnesota’s offense struggled again in Game 2 of this series in a 6-2 loss. The team only managed four hits in the game and Byron Buxton went yard in the game. They rank in the middle of the pack in the Majors in runs scored but their lineup has not gotten it done so far in this series scoring three runs. Nelson Cruz leads the Twins in batting average (.323) HR (16) and RBI (32) and he only has three hits in nine strikeouts in his last five games. Marwin Gonzalez (.213) is listed as questionable for this game with an illness.
Giolito Looks to Help Sox Extend Streak
Lucas Giolito (4-2 3.43 ERA) goes for Chicago in this game and the club has won his last five starts. In his last outing, he gave up three runs in five 2.3 innings in a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers. Giolito was shelled in his worst start of the season in his season debut facing the Twins giving up seven runs in three 2/3 innings in a 10-5 loss. However, he faced them on September 1, holding them to two earned runs in five innings in an 8-5 win.
Jose Abreu leads the Majors with 48 RBI and has 15 HR and has two HR and eight RBI in the last seven days. Tim Anderson leads the Majors batting .377 and has 10 hits and four RBI in his last four games.
James McCann and Luis Robert each had two RBI in the 6-2 win in the second game of this series. The Sox are 9-1 in their last 10 games and they rank second in the Majors with a run differential of +83.
Notable Trends
The Chicago White Sox are:
- 6-0 in their last 6 games
- 14-2 in their last 16 home games
- 23-6 in their last 29 vs. American League Central
- 6-0 in their last 6 games vs. a right-handed starter
The Minnesota Twins are:
- 2-8 in their last 10 road games
- 1-6 in their last 7 games as a road underdog
- 1-6 in their last 7 road games vs. a right-handed starter
