The White Sox are actually playing ball that doesn’t make fans ill. They won a series against one of the best teams in baseball. Now, to see if this streak of decent play will continue as the Miami Marlins stop in for a weekend set. Here is what you need to know for the weekend series to start Memorial Day weekend:
2013 Record: White Sox 21-24, 4th in AL Central. Marlins 13-34 5th in NL East
2010 Series Record: 2-1
All-Time Series Record: 4-5 (The Sox are 3-3 at home against the Marlins)
The following pitchers are expected to start in the three games:
John Danks: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0K vs. Tom Koehler: 0-2, 2.82 ERA, 17K
Jake Peavy: 5-2, 3.31 ERA, 58K vs. Ricky Nolasco: 3-5, 3.96 ERA, 50K
Dylan Axelrod: 2-3, 4.13 ERA, 28K vs. Alex Sanabia: 3-6, 4.56 ERA, 28K
Friday’s game begins at 7:10 pm. Saturday’s game starts at 6:15 pm and Sunday’s game begins at 1:10 pm. Friday’s game is the free MLB dot tv game of the day. Saturday you can get discounted tickets via the ticket deal I was able to get for readers AND a sweet 1983 Sox logo cap for the first 20,000 fans.
You know how the White Sox have played of late. Some of the more disappointing players seemingly are coming around. Big Donkey in the last week or so is doing dirty things to the baseball when it hits his bat. Jeff Keppinger also seems to be coming around. In the past week, he has taken a walk and hit his first home run for the White Sox. Oh, and Paul Konerko seems to be coming out of his funk.
Additionally, Alex Rios has the longest hitting streak of his career going on. Yes, there is still some pitiful defense that is happening. Perhaps not in the box score of an E on someone, but in just general lackadaisical play. That has to be the most frustrating part when you see that the offense is coming around to support what has generally been great pitching.
However, the Sox this weekend will face a test of sorts in the Miami Marlins. No way to say it other than the Marlins are a bad team. After the 2011 season, the team seemed to go on a spending spree in acquiring players as well as getting a new stadium. That all blew up early on in the 2012 season. This past off season saw the team unload many players as well as launch a manager who was brought in because it was thought he’d provide a spark. While there is some young talent around, the real star of that team is Giancarlo Stanton and he was not happy with how things turned out last season.
So why is this a test for the Sox this weekend? Because the Sox in the past have had a habit of playing down to their competition. The Marlins having only 13 wins are a prime target to make the Sox play even worse baseball than we have seen most of the season. The good news is that give how the Sox appear to have turned a corner of sorts, they just might come away with a series win. They should, but you never know with this team.
