A pair of AL Central rivals lock up in the opening game of a weekend set on the diamond on the shores of Lake Erie. The Chicago White Sox are on the road as they kick off a three-game series with the Cleveland Guardians Friday night. Chicago closed a four-game series at home with Houston Thursday afternoon: they were beaten 3-2 on Wednesday night. Cleveland split a four-game series at home against Detroit as they rallied for an 8-4 triumph Wednesday night in the series finale. In the season series, the Guardians own an 8-5 advantage, though the teams split a four-game set in the Windy City July 22-24. This article was published prior to the conclusion of Chicago’s series finale Thursday afternoon.
Chicago won the first two games of the series against Houston before coming up short Wednesday night. The White Sox entered Thursday third in the AL Central, two games behind the Guardians for the top spot in the division race. In the AL wild card picture, the team was two games behind the Blue Jays and Rays, who were tied for the final two wild card spots. On Wednesday, Chicago got two hits from Jose Abreu (run) but he was the only player to record multiple hits. The White Sox bounced into three double plays and went one of eight with runners in scoring position. Michael Kopech (4-9) turned in a quality start but took the loss as he allowed three runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts over six innings of work.
Lance Lynn is on the mound for the White Sox as he makes his 13th start of the season in this contest. He is 3-5 with a 5.62 ERA, a 1.249 WHIP, 11 walks and 69 strikeo uts over 65.2 innings of work this year. Lynn earned the win in his last start, which came Sunday against the Tigers at home. He threw five innings, allowing two runs on five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in a 5-3 White Sox triumph. In his last three starts, Lynn is 2-1 with a 3.50 ERA, a 0.94 WHIP, one walk and 20 strikeouts over 18 innings of work. Lynn makes his 11th career start against the Guardians in this contest. He comes in 4-4 with a 3.88 ERA, a 1.19 WHIP, 18 walks and 65 strikeouts over 58 innings of work against them. Lynn is 1-3 with a 5.87 ERA, a 1.435 WHIP, nine walks and 26 strikeouts over 23 innings in four career starts at Progressive Field.