The White Sox get a timely boost as they finish the first half with a three-game series against the Athletics, and the lineup has a new look right away. Munetaka Murakami is back after missing time with a hamstring strain, and he’s jumping straight back into the heart of the order at first base.
Chicago is coming off a rough week against Boston, so this series suddenly carries more weight than it looked like it would a few days ago. The Sox still have a chance to steady things before the break, and Murakami’s return gives them exactly the kind of thump they’ve been missing.
The White Sox lineup for this one runs: Sam Antonacci in left, Murakami at first, Miguel Vargas at third, Colson Montgomery at short, Braden Montgomery in right, Chase Meidroth at second, Andrew Benintendi as the DH, Kyle Teel catching, and Tristan Peters in center.
Murakami’s comeback is the headline. He opened the season on a historic tear, piling up 20 home runs in his first 57 games and looking like a real All-Star and Rookie of the Year candidate before the hamstring strain shut him down in late May. Now he’s back in the middle of a group that already includes Vargas and Montgomery, which makes the top half of this lineup look a lot more dangerous.
There was some question about whether the Sox would ease him back in as the DH, but they’re not going that route. He’s starting at first base, which is a good sign for how ready they believe he is.
Benintendi is also back in the lineup against a left-hander, making his first start in five days, though he stays lower in the order. Will Venable is keeping Colson Montgomery and Braden Montgomery together in the four and five spots.
Peters returns to center field and hits ninth after a strong stretch against Cleveland, where he finished the series with six hits.
The Athletics counter with Lawrence Butler, Shea Langeliers, Tyler Soderstrom, Jonah Heim, Jacob Wilson, Joey Meneses, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, Henry Bolte, and Jeff McNeil.
On the mound, Sean Burke has quietly become one of the better stories in the White Sox rotation. Over his last four starts, he’s held opponents to fewer than two runs each time, and he just struck out 11 against Cleveland. He still has some walk issues and can be vulnerable to the long ball early, but Chicago has been able to let him work deeper into games lately.
Jacob Lopez starts for Oakland, and the numbers have been ugly. He carries a 7.04 ERA over 53.2 innings, was tagged for four earned runs against Detroit in his last outing, and before that gave up seven runs to the Yankees in late May. The A’s even sent him down to Triple-A for a stretch.
With Murakami back in the lineup and Burke on the mound, this is the kind of game the White Sox should expect to take care of.
In Other News...
Shea Langeliers Just Reached Rare Air In A's History
Shea Langeliers has become one of the more important success stories to come out of the Matt Olson trade, the kind of player Oakland hoped it was getting when it brought him over from Atlanta. Since arriving, he has settled in as the Athletics starting catcher and kept taking steps forward, turning promise into production while becoming a fixture in the middle of the lineup.
Now he has added a rare place in franchise history to the rsum. Langeliers is one of only nine As players since 1968 to put together at least four straight 20-homer seasons, and he is the only one to do it as a full-time catcher. For a club that has spent years searching for stability and impact at that position, his rise gives Oakland something it has not had in a long time, even if the bigger question around the roster still hangs in the background. [Read more 🡒]
As Embarrassing White Sox Loss Put An Even Uglier Spotlight On This Slide
The Athletics trip through Chicago turned into another rough night at Rate Field, where the White Sox rolled past them and kept Oaklands recent slide in full view. The As offense never found much traction, and the game quickly took on the look of one of those losses that can linger because it offers so little to build on.
Oakland did get a solo home run from Tyler Soderstrom, but it was a small consolation in a game that only deepened the clubs frustration. The defeat pushed the Athletics losing streak to seven, and with the White Sox putting together one of their most complete showings of the season, the As were left trying to move on from a result that only sharpened the questions around where this stretch is headed. [Read more 🡒]
A's Suddenly Face A Brutal White Sox Test During This Skid
The Athletics have spent the last week trying to stop a slide that has now reached seven straight losses, and the timing has made things even uglier. Sweeps by the Marlins and Tigers already put the club on the back foot, and the White Sox have only deepened the frustration with a lopsided result in the series opener. The bigger issue has been on the mound, where the pitching staff has been forced to lean heavily on the bullpen while young ace Gage Jump and the rest of the rotation have struggled to give the team the kind of innings it needs.
That leaves the final two games of the set in a tricky spot, with limited bullpen options and a lineup that needs more help to keep pace. Oakland has been waiting for more from its offense, but the pressure has only grown with Zack Gelof on the injured list and Nick Kurtz trending toward one, which makes the margin for error even thinner. The A's still have a chance to salvage something from the series, but they will need better length from the starters and a few more timely swings to avoid letting this skid get any worse. [Read more 🡒]