The White Sox are trying to stop the bleeding at Fenway Park, and they’re doing it with a lineup that comes with one particularly strange wrinkle: Luisangel Acuña is starting in left field for the first time in his major league career.
Chicago dropped the first two games of the series against Boston and now turns to a fresh arm in Luis Castillo, who was acquired from the Seattle Mariners before the trade deadline in exchange for reliever Seranthony Dominguez, prospect Boston Smith, and minor leaguer Nolan Jones. First pitch is set for 6:10 CT, with the game on CHSN and ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM.
Will Venable is leaning into a right-handed look against Boston left-hander Ranger Suarez. Chase Meidroth leads off, as usual when a lefty is on the hill, and the top half also includes Munetaka Murakami, Miguel Vargas, and Colson Montgomery. Randal Grichuk gets the cleanup spot, and that choice tracks with his success against Suarez: he’s 3-for-9 with an .844 OPS in the matchup.
The odd part is the defensive setup behind the lineup. Acuña, who has a home run in his young career against Suarez, gets the nod in left over Sam Antonacci, despite Antonacci’s improvements against left-handed pitching. Chicago is also starting Brenton Doyle in center and Braden Montgomery in right, with Joey Bart behind the plate.
Boston is without first baseman Willson Contreras, who was scratched from Wednesday’s game with an illness and is out of the lineup. That matters for Chicago not just because of his season, but because of what he’s done against Castillo in his career: 22 at-bats, a .455 average, a home run, and a 1.311 OPS. With Contreras unavailable, Nick Sogard slides to first base and Anthony Seigler takes over at second.
The Red Sox still have plenty of bats that have had success against Castillo, including Jarren Duran, who has also homered off him. Boston’s order features Ceddanne Rafaela hitting second, Wilyer Abreu third, Caleb Durbin fourth, and Masataka Yoshida in the five-hole.
Castillo’s first start in a White Sox uniform comes with some uneven numbers attached. In 20 games this year, he has a 5.06 ERA with 86 strikeouts in 99.2 innings, well off his usual standard. Chicago needs a reset from him, badly, if it’s going to salvage the series.
Suarez has been solid overall, posting a 3.15 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 100 innings, but he’s been more hittable lately. Over his last three starts, he’s worked just 11.1 innings and allowed six runs. That gives the White Sox a path here: get to Suarez early, force the bullpen into the game, and see if the lineup shuffle pays off.
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