Pregame
From the Sox Series Preview:
Clayton Richard: The 24-year old left-hander had his first major league start on July 23, throwing 85 pitches in four innings versus the Texas Rangers. He struck out seven and only walked one, but he also allowed seven hits and five runs. It wasn't the best debut, but there was promise, and his team bailed him out of a loss. At any rate, he's an extreme ground ball pitcher, acquiring percentages of 57, 65, 58, 52 and 61 at every stop in the minors since A-level in '06. For his minor league career, he doesn't strike out a lot of guys, has decent control, and his 91-mph fastball can have a little sink to it. Otherwise, he's strictly curveball/changeup. If the Twins aren't careful, he could chew them up.
For Glen Perkins, this game is all about getting back on track. Six days ago in New York, he lasted six innings but was lambasted for eight hits and five runs. But prior to that outing, he'd run off four consecutive quality starts, and really handn't been ineffective since June 4th. He won't strike a lot of guys out, and it's very likely that a team like the White Sox will get ahold of a pitch or two from a fly ball starter like Perk, so the key for Glen is to mix it up each time through the order...it doesn't matter how. If he can limit Chicago to an average of one hit per inning, and not walk more than a pair through six innings, the Twins should be in good shape. Toby Hall (.960 OPS, 33 AB), Jim Thome (.947 OPS, 93 AB), Alexei Ramirez (.859 OPS, 77 AB), Jermaine Dye (.837 OPS, 98 AB), Juan Uribe (.817 OPS, 31 AB) and Carlos Quentin (.804 OPS, 96 AB) have had success against southpaws this season.