Only a few household items before we dive into our preview of the game of tonight. First movements of the pitching.
It will indeed be Sean Burke who starts tonight. Then Miguel Vargas is back in line. Vargas was sidelined with a hand injury.
Yesterday’s game was one more for the garbage dump, but at least our South Siders did not roll. They certainly demonstrated some late game fights, only to be betrayed again by an extremely bare bull pin. This evening? It is another shot to bring down the rays, fighting for a wildcard place. The good ones took 2-of-3 from Tampa in July, and it would certainly be nice to do that again and let the Mojo avoid to avoid the shame of a third consecutive 100-Loss season.
Sean Burke gets the ball for the South Siders, fresh from a banning of three weeks to Charlotte who had to repair him. Spoiler: It didn’t. He went 0-3 with an ERA of 7.82 and a whip that would make your eyes in just under 13 innings water. His last outing, September 3, was the only light place when he earned a quality start, threw six innings and allowed three points on six hits, with seven KS, and no walks. Before his relegation, Burke’s season was a roulette wheel – opening day he was inviolable for six scoreless, then he immediately coughed six points in 4 1/3 frames’s next time -out. Coherence? Not in this zip code. If the SOX would do it in 2026, they need someone who can actually be counted on every fifth day. Can Burke be that guy? He has a handful of starting to prove it, because the competition will certainly heat up in spring training with a crowd of arms, including Drew Thorpe, Ky Bush and Mason Adams, all return from Tommy John Surgery.
What about those SOX bats? Still humming since the break. Fifth in average (.264) and RBIs (249), sixth in gay (73) and Ops (.766), and seventh in Slug (.442) and OBP (.324). No, this is not a typo. Who is the company they keep, do you ask? The Yankees, Phillies, Jays and Mariners. All probably playoff-bound and all legitimate. The engine here is a few Rookies – Kyle Teel and Colson Montgomery. Teel leads the package on average (.313) and OBP (.391), second in Ops (.906) and WRC+ (151) since the break. And Montgomery? Oh, he just stamps: 18 bombs, 45 RBIs.
The rays counter with Griffin Jax, pressed a Reliever in opener duty for what looks like a bull pin scrambling. Tampa acquired him from the twins on the deadline for Taj Bradley, and he has been a bit of a mess since he came by, with 0-2, with a 6.30 ERA and 1.50 Whip in August. This is his second go as a opener, with Ryan Pepiot suspended by fatigue.
Here is how Venable opens them, hoping to party on a Rays staff that run out.
And Kevin Cash sets up his line -up, ready to see if Burke’s Charlotte Reset actually did something.
First throw at 6:40 on CHSN, now on Comcast, DirectV and Fubo. No TV? Let Len Kasper and DJ paint the image on ESPN 1000.
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