Game Thread: White Sox at Guardians

Chicago seeks snakebite cure as Burke looks to halt six-game skid

Prior to the game, the White Sox tweeted out a few roster updates.

Chicago DFA’d Jankowski three days ago when they activated Mike Tauchman from the 10-day injured list. The outfielder was hitting .214/.267/.214 with a .481 OPS in 14 plate appearances at the time of his release.

Surprise, surprise, Benny goes down again. The 27-year-old Jones, who will take his place, is a former 2019 first-round pick (No. 22) of the Tampa Bay Rays who was traded to the Colorado Rockies last spring. The Pale Hose claimed him off of waivers from the Rox in March. While he’s done moderately well in his minors career, hitting .263/.346/.438 with a .784 OPS, he’s only had five at-bats at the big league level. In a cup of coffee (six games) with Colorado last year, he slashed .200/.333/.800 with 1.133 OPS. His only hit was a dinger, and he also had one walk.

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The South Siders (2-8) look to snap a six-game losing streak today against the Cleveland Guardians (4-6). The first pitch is at 5:10 p.m. CT, pitting rookie Sean Burke against southpaw Logan Allen.

The 25-year-old Burke burst onto the scene last season, posting a 2-0 record and 1.42 ERA while racking up an impressive 10.42 K/9 in 19 innings. The righthander was terrific on Opening Day, silencing opposing bats, tossing six shutout innings, and earning the W. He gave up just three hits with no walks while striking out three. Unfortunately, his second outing of the year offered a sharp contrast as he conceded six runs on seven hits over 4 1⁄3 frames. Here’s hoping Burke can recapture that Opening Day magic in today’s contest.

Across the diamond, the Guardians will send Logan Allen to the mound. The lefty struggled in his season debut on April 1 versus the San Diego Padres. The Friars hit him pretty hard as he surrendered four earned runs on seven hits with five walks over 5 1⁄3 innings. Historically, the White Sox have also fared well over the years, boasting a collective .407 batting average and a .611 slug. Andrew Vaughn may actually prove himself useful today as he has slashed .471/.471/.824 in 17 at-bats during his career against Allen, with a homer and three doubles.

Here’s how skipper Will Venable lines them up, desperately searching for some runs to help secure victory No. 3. Athough, that’s pretty tough to do when your team batting average is a paltry .199.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt has slightly more offensive options at his disposal, though their club is still only hitting .211.

You can tune in to the pregame show and watch the broadcast on CHSN+. Don’t want to pay for CHSN or the antenna? Listen to Len Kasper and Darin Jackson on the radio call at ESPN 1000.