MINNEAPOLIS -- The White Sox have gone 10-1 in Davis Martin's starts and they'll put the stickiness of those results to the test. Because you combine Munetaka Murakami's injury, the continued absences of Austin Hays and Everson Pereira with an off day for Colson Montgomery, and their lineup against a left-handed starter looks quite funky.
"Just a scheduled day off," Will Venable said of Montgomery sitting. "Looking ahead, trying to get through these 13 games [in a row], kind of highlighted today, because it was a lefty, giving an opportunity to give Colson some rest."
Montgomery is available to pinch hit later in the game. Where as Venable said that the Sox are still waiting on the results from the testing Hays (left calf strain) underwent on Monday, and that he'll probably be shut down from all activity for a few days anyway. Pereira (right pectoral strain) will throw to bases on Wednesday, and will be running bases this week as well. It sounds like a rehab assignment could be a possibility next week. Jordan Hicks (right lat strain) is with the team and playing catch, but doesn't have a specific ramp-up timeline yet.
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Edgar Quero is 3-for-9 with two homers and two walks against left-handed pitchers since the start of the Cubs series and has cited some recent work with making his hip load more efficient.
"I was loading in the beginning of the season, sweeping back my hips too much," Quero said. "So I was going more around the ball. Right now I'm trying to load in my hips, load back into sitting, so I'm feeling pretty good right now."
Obviously the Sox are back to treating him like a lefty-killer again, since he's batting cleanup.
"Really on both sides, feel like he's much more handsy at the plate," Venable said. "He's staying on top and through some fastball and hitting those hard and being on time for those. He's putting himself in a really good spot and looks more free at the plate."
Maybe Randal Grichuk and his career .269/.319/.503 line against left-handed pitching is even more important for this game, since he's batting in the No. 2 spot mostly filled by Murakami this season.
"Just to get that type of player mid-season when one of your regulars goes out, it's huge," Venable said. "His performance has been great, and comes with a ton of experience. As we're talking through game plans in hitters' meetings, the leadership he has in the clubhouse, he's making an impact really everywhere. That's just something that you feel really lucky to get and acquire the way we did."
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Like the rest of American culture, the White Sox are diving all the way into nostalgia the last two days.
On Monday, they announced the slate of players who will participate in their alumni home run derby on July 11:
- Jose Canseco
- Gordon Beckham
- Leury García
- Daniel Palka
- Scott Podsednik
- Alexei Ramirez
One Tuesday, they announced a very large slate of attendees for a reunion of the division-winning 1983 team on June 27:
- Carlton Fisk
- Harold Baines
- Tony La Russa
- Floyd Bannister
- Britt Burns
- Richard Dotson
- Scott Fletcher
- Lorenzo Gray
- Jerry Hairston
- Guy Hoffman
- Ron Kittle
- Dennis Lamp
- Vance Law
- Rudy Law
- Greg Luzinski
- Randy Martz
- Joel Skinner
- Mike Squires
- Greg Walker
First pitch: White Sox at Twins
TV: CHSN
Radio: ESPN 1000 AM
Lineups:
| Twins | White Sox | |
|---|---|---|
| Byron Buxton, CF | 1 | Chase Meidroth, 2B |
| Brooks Lee, 3B | 2 | Randal Grichuk, RF |
| Kody Clemens, 1B | 3 | Miguel Vargas, 3B |
| Josh Bell, DH | 4 | Edgar Quero, C |
| Trevor Larnach, LF | 5 | Sam Antonacci, LF |
| Austin Martin, RF | 6 | Derek Hill, CF |
| Luke Keaschall, 2B | 7 | Andrew Benintendi, DH |
| Tristan Gray, SS | 8 | Luisangel Acuña, SS |
| Alex Jackson, C | 9 | Jacob Gonzalez, 1B |
| Connor Prielipp | SP | Davis Martin |
