Game 124: White Sox at Twins

FIRST PITCH 6:10 pm CDT
TV: FSN
RADIO: WCCO 830, TIBN
KNOWN THY ENEMY: South Side Sox

Ah, those halcyon days of spring. The Twins were a promising young playoff team. Byron Buxton was healthy. Brian Dozier and Eduardo Escobar were Twins, and Matt Belisle was banished to Cleveland. That was when this game should have been played. Alas, the frigid lands of Minnesota were still a snowy tundra, so this game was moved from April 15th to a mutual off-day in August. That day is today.

At the time we thought that it would a grand opportunity for the Twins to pad their divisional record against a foe with nothing left to play for but pride. We were sort-of-right, in that the White Sox are still a rebuilding team, but alas, the Twins are not a whole lot better. Still, they have a real chance to still notch a winning season, with a strong finish. There is however, some good news today — Twins fans will hopefully get the first taste of a bright future.

Highly touted left-handed pitching prospect Stephen Gonsalves will make his MLB debut today. Gonsalves has pitched very well at Triple-A this season. The 24-year old Californian has a 2.96 ERA in just over 100 innings against the second highest level of baseball. Lets hope it carries over against the highest level of competition. Although for Chicago, that might be a broad generalization.

In order to make room for Gonsalves on the roster, Tyler Duffey was sent down to Rochester. A few other small roster moves mean that reliever Alan Busenitz and outfielder/DH Robbie Grossman are back with the team as well.

Starting for the Pale Hosers is Lucas Giolito, who has thrown 18 ²⁄₃ innings against the Twins already this year. He has given up 15 hits and seven runs during that span, so hopefully Minnesota’s offense can take advantage. Overall, Giolito has a 6.15 ERA this season.

One small oddity, this game is a make-up being played in Minnesota. The next couple are regularly scheduled games played in Chicago.

Twins line up

1. Joe Mauer (L) 1B
2. Eddie Rosario (L) LF
3. Jorge Polanco (S) SS
4. Miguel Sano (R) 3B
5. Max Kepler (L) CF
6. Mitch Garver (R) C
7. Jake Cave (L) RF
8. Tyler Austin (R) DH
9. Ehire Adrianza (S) 2B
P. Stephen Gonsalves (L)

White Sox line up

1. Tim Anderson (R) SS
2. Leury Garcia (S) CF
3. Jose Abreu (R) 1B
4. Daniel Palka (L) DH
5. Avisail Garcia (R) RF
6. Nicky Delmonico (L) LF
7. Matt Davidson (R) 3B
8. Yolmer Sanchez (S) 2B
9. Kevan Smith (R) C
P. Lucas Giolito (R)