The Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies play the second of a three-game series on Saturday. Chicago took the opener in a 15-inning marathon, 4-3 on Friday night.
Another Rough Season
The White Sox are 47-60 so far this season and just 20-32 in road games. They went a full 15 innings with the Phillies in their last game where they eventually got the win after losing their previous four. While Chicago has had another season below par, they know they have some young talent to build around and will continue to test out young players all season long.
Starting for the Sox in this game will be 33-year-old Ross Detwiler. Detwiler is just 1-1 so far this season with a 6.35 ERA and 12 strikeouts over his 22 2/3 innings pitched. This will be an interesting outing after having a marathon game last night, where both teams depleted their bullpens. Detwiler’s job will be to keep the Sox in the game while he faces a tough pitcher in Aaron Nola.
Chicago will be without some solid batters in this game as Yoan Moncada, Wellington Castillo, and Jon Jay are all on the IL. Moncada was leading the team with his .301 batting average. Stepping up while they have been out is the White Sox third baseman, Jose Abreu, Abreu leads the team with 23 home runs and 77 runs batted in. He also went 2-for-6 with a home run and three RBI in Friday night’s game.
Still In The Fight
The Phillies are now 57-52 this season and 33-25 at home. After taking the loss last night, they are 3-2 over their last five games. As a team, they are batting .245 this year with 140 home runs and a 4.55 ERA. The Phillies sit in third place in the NL East, seven games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves.
Not only did the Phillies just wrap up a 15-inning game where they took a loss, but they also are down three relief pitchers and two starters with different injuries. Despite their injuries, they will have 26-year-old Aaron Nola on the mound for this game. Nola has been solid yet again this season. Nola is 9-2 with a 3.72 ERA and 153 strikeouts. In his last outing, Nola took the win after giving up four runs on seven hits over six innings.
Philadelphia has been getting help from the entire lineup on offense this year. Their first baseman, Rhys Hoskins, leads the team with 23 home runs, Cesar Hernandez leads them with a .287 batting average, and their big-money offseason acquisition, Bryce Harper, has stepped up and leads the team with 72 runs batted in. Harper is also batting .248 this year with 18 home runs.
What To Expect
After going 15 innings in a game last night, this contest is going to be all about which team gets up and comes more prepared for this one. I like the Phillies in this one simply because after the long game last night, Nola should give them a big advantage by being able to go a much longer distance in this outing.
