A pair of American League teams close out a weekend series on the diamond down in the Lone Star State. The Chicago White Sox are on the road as they finish up a four-game set with the reeling Texas Rangers Sunday afternoon. In the second game of the series Friday night, it was the White Sox clawing their way to a surprisingly low-scoring 2-1 victory to square things up after the Rangers prevailed 3-2 in the opener Thursday night. Which team comes up with the victory on getaway day? This article was published prior to the conclusion of the middle game of the series at Globe Life Field Saturday night.
Chicago shook off an early deficit to beat Texas Friday night for their fifth victory in the last seven games. The White Sox entered Saturday tied for second in the AL Central, two games behind the Twins for the top spot. They were 2.5 games behind the Mariners for the final wild card spot in the American League. On Friday night, Chicago got two hits each from Eloy Jimenez (run, RBI) and Josh Harrison in the contest. Jimenez hit his sixth homer of the season in the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie and give the White Sox the win. Dylan Cease (12-4) won his fifth straight decision as he threw six innings, allowing one run on two hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Liam Hendriks worked the ninth, striking out two, for his 22nd save of the season.
Lucas Giolito is on the mound for the White Sox in the finale as he makes his 20th start of the season here. He comes in wi th a 7-6 record, a 5.06 ERA, a 1.49 WHIP, 39 walks and 115 strikeouts over 101.1 innings of work on the year. Giolito earned the win in his last start, which came at home against the Royals Tuesday night. He threw five innings, allowing two runs on five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in a 9-2 White Sox triumph. In his last three starts, Giolito is 1-1 with a 7.62 ERA, a 2.08 WHIP, seven walks and 13 strikeouts over 13 innings of action. Giolito makes his fourth career start against the Rangers in this contest. He comes in 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA, a 1.347 WHIP, six walks and 15 strikeouts over 16.1 innings of work against them. In his lone start at Globe Life Field, which came on September 19, 2021, he came up a winner. Giolito allowed one run on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts over 5.1 innings in a 7-2 White Sox victory.