Gamethread: Guardians at White Sox

Tonight, it’s a showdown between the best and the worst

The White Sox take on the first-place AL Central Cleveland Guardians this evening at Guaranteed Rate Field. It’s good against bad, rising stars vs. aging veterans. Who will come out victorious? You’ll have to watch or listen to find out. Or you could just return here to South Side Sox and save yourself some grief. To be fair, though, the Good Guys are 4-6 over their last 10 games, which is still not great but a tad bit better than their previous 10 when they went 3-7.

Due to the weather, the game will be delayed:

Erick Fedde has been one of the only bright spots on the team’s staff, and while his final line last week was ugly, it shouldn’t derail what has been, to this point, an excellent return to the United States. Before getting hammered for five runs in the fifth inning against St. Louis, he had given up just three of them in his previous 23 innings. Despite his 3.46 ERA, though, he’s still had some issues getting through the order three times, as he’s made it through six innings in just two of seven starts. Against a relatively light-hitting Guardians lineup, though, this may be another day.

Ben Lively is a journeyman’s journeyman, as Cleveland is the 32-year-old’s fourth franchise since breaking into the majors seven years ago. He’s never thrown more than 89 innings in a season, but as they are known to do, Cleveland seems to have found something to work with, as he’s recorded a 2.08 ERA in four starts for the Guardians.

Andrew Benintendi, Paul DeJong, Nicky Lopez, and Tommy Pham are the only Sox hitters to have ever seen Lively, combining for 11 ABs, with only Benintendi and DeJong successfully reaching base.

In the lineup for the White Sox, Bryan Ramos, who has been on fire and looks like the real deal, gets another start at third base.

For the Guardians, we see that both Josh and Bo Naylor will again have the opportunity to demonstrate their best Barry Bond imitations. Additionally, first baseman Kyle Manzardo, who is Cleveland’s top prospect and is playing in only his third MLB game, had one of the best bats in the minor leagues. Tampa Bay drafted him in Round 2 (No. 63) of the 2021 MLB Draft, and the Guardians acquired him for Aaron Civale last summer.

The first pitch is at 7:25 p.m. CST. You can watch the broadcast on NBCSCH+ or listen in on ESPN 1000.