WEDNESDAY FIRST 5 INNINGS PLAY (YTD 16-19)

[jimmythegreek]

CWS/Minnesota over 5 -125:
After serving up perhaps our worst bomb of the season last night where Boston nor Toronto could cross the plate in the first half, we come back this evening with something that looks more attractive and sensible on paper with equal hopes of the result on the field. This evening the Chicago White Sox (52-78) look to even the series as they visit Minnesota (68-63) who currently holds the second wildcard spot in the AL. Last night Jorge Polanco cranked out 2 solo HR, his 8th and 9th of the season while Eduardo Escobar also drove in 2 runs as the Twins held off the pale hose 6-4. Ervin Santana improved his mark to 14-7 by going 6 2/3 innings yielding just 3 runs on 7 hits with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. Matt Belisle notched his 5th save in 9 opportunities despite allowing a run in the 9th. James Shields (2-5) who gave up 4 runs on 5 hits in 5 innings pitched with 5 walks and 3 strikeouts, took the loss for Chicago. Jose Abreu went 4 for 4 with a walk and two RBIs for the White Sox, who fell to 4-17 in their last 21 road games.The good news for the Twins is that there are just 6 games remaining of their final 32 with teams that are on pace to qualify for the postseason.

Jose Berrios (11-6 4.04) takes the ball for Minnesota tonight with hopes of rebounding against these same White Sox from his last start. At Guaranteed Rate Field last Thursday, the 23 year old second year righty lasted just 5 1/3 innings and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits despite walking 3 and striking out 9. Berrios came out of the gate extremely strong with 7 wins over his first 8 decisions but has gone 4-5 since. He faces a White Sox lineup that is hitting just .255 overall averaging just about 4.3 runs per contest with their 147 HR ranked 14th in the AL only ahead of Boston. Chicago has won 4 of their last 6 but as has been the case nearly all season long continues to play the role of spoiler. Abreu (.303 26 80) who leads the club in power and production has 3 multi-hit games over his last 4 and is batting .375 over the last week. Avisail Garcia (.320 13 62) has been another few and far between bright spot hitting safely in his last 6 games (.400) and is second in the AL in hitting behind Jose Altuve. Matt Davidson (.239 23 54) is having trouble hitting his weight and has been feast or famine with 130 K’s in just 314 at-bats Leury Garcia (.276 9 33) is fighting back stiffness and is mired in a 3 for 22 slump (.136) including hitless in his last 12 at-bats. Tim Anderson (.240 14 45) has a 4 game hitting streak and is providing more power than expected with still a 5th of the season remaining. Yolmer Sanchez (.261 8 44) brings in a 5 game hitting streak this evening (.474) and has been the clear cut everyday choice over slumping Tyler Saladino.

The White Sox counter with Derek Holland (7-13 6.05) who eclipsed 6 innings pitched for just the second time in 6 starts last time out. The 30 year old southpaw ended a 3 game losing streak by beating out Berrios last Thursday at home 5-1 where he surrendered just a run on 3 hits in 6 innings walking one and striking out 5. Holland faces a Twins lineup hitting just .256 overall but averaging 4.8 runs per contest with pop in their lineup as evident by their 160 collective HR. Miguel Sano (.267 28 77) is a big reason why Minnesota remains in solid postseason position having himself a productive season thus far. Same goes for Brian Dozier (.258 26 72) who also has some speed for a power hitter as evident by his 14 thefts in 20 attempts (70%). Eddie Rosario (.290 18 55) leads the team in batting but has cooled off considerably due to a 4 for 28 slump (.143). Joe Mauer (.296 6 51) is starting to show flashes from his peak seasons in 2009-10 with a 7 game hitting streak and batting .429 over that stretch. Max Kepler (.247 17 59) has also shown some welcome power but a 2 for 20 slump (.100) has seen his average dip below .250. Byron Buxton (.249 13 38) is among the league leaders with 24 steals caught just once (96%), and has 8 hits over his last 4 games (.474).

We get a fairly pricey price this evening at Target Field in a venue where despite the ball carrying fairly well, poses challenging dimensions to power hitters as evident by 411 feet to straight away center and 403 to right center. The corners are a lot more manageable at 328 and 339 respectively, and winds are variably strong amidst warm and humid conditions this evening. Berrios and Holland have been up and down as of late, and either hopes to fall into a rhythm putting together a couple of wins, especially the former if the Twins can hold on the rest of the way to capture one of the wildcard spots in the AL. While we’ve been up and down as of late, we hope to put together a string of wins ourselves as there’s still time left to salvage at the very least a break-even season or perhaps slightly ahead of the game. Best of luck however you play!