The Chicago White Sox have made lots of headway this season, so another step in the right direction would be to have success against the Baltimore Orioles.
That hasn’t come frequently during the past several seasons, but the White Sox will try to continue their season of breakthroughs on Tuesday night in Baltimore.
Chicago already won the series opener 8-2 on Monday night.
Yet even with that result, the Orioles are 15-2 vs. the White Sox in the past 17 meetings. Chicago can win a series against Baltimore for the first time since July 9-11, 2021, by winning either Tuesday night or Wednesday afternoon.
Chicago has won five of its past seven games overall.
The White Sox scored six runs across the final two innings on Monday to begin a seven-game road trip. It was just their second victory in the past eight road games.
The White Sox didn’t hit a home run in the series opener, but they are one Miguel Vargas long ball from having three players with 20 or more homers prior to the All-Star break for the first time since 2006. Colson Montgomery and Munetaka Murakami already have reached that mark.
“He just continues to make really good swing decisions,” Chicago manager Will Venable of Vargas, whose homer total already is a career high. “I think some of these at-bats … just really impressive against really good arms.”
The White Sox hope to extend the Orioles’ slump. Baltimore has lost three games in a row and five of its past six.
“It’s more of us just not playing a complete game of baseball,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. “That’s keeping me up at night.”
The Orioles will go with right-hander Trey Gibson (1-2, 5.64 ERA) for the Tuesday game. The rookie has an 0-2 record and a 7.00 ERA through four June outings. Baltimore is 1-6 in the games he has appeared in.
In his most recent outing, Gibson allowed two runs on three hits in four innings during a no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday. The Orioles lost 7-6 in 10 innings.
Gibson, who has 25 strikeouts and 19 walks in 30 1/3 innings, will face Chicago for the first time.
Right-hander Erick Fedde (2-6, 4.34 ERA) will get the call for the White Sox. He won his first two decisions in June before taking a defeat at Detroit on June 19 and then winding up with a no-decision vs. the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday. Fedde limited Cleveland to two runs (one earned) on five hits in four innings in Chicago’s 4-3 loss in 10 innings.
The 33-year-old veteran hasn’t lasted more than five innings in 10 outings since the end of April.
Fedde took the loss in Chicago’s 2-1 home setback to the Orioles on April 6 despite holding Baltimore to two runs and five hits across six innings. In six all-time meetings with the Orioles (four starts), he is 2-2 with a 1.56 ERA covering 34 2/3 innings.
The Orioles tinkered with their lineup on Monday, moving Gunnar Henderson to the leadoff spot and sliding Taylor Ward down one spot to bat second.
Perhaps it worked to some degree because Henderson recorded two of Baltimore’s four hits and drew a walk. Getting him untracked has been a priority, as the 2-for-3 effort improved his batting average to .224.
“Breaks up the rhythm, breaks up the cadence, the routine,” Albernaz said of the switch. “Obviously, both of those guys have hit in those two spots this year and in years past, so not a big change for them. Hopefully, it kind of gets something going for us.”
Ward went 0-for-4, dropping his average to .253.
The Orioles made a roster move on Monday with left-handed reliever Keegan Akin going on the 15-day injured list due to a sore left elbow. Josh Walker was called up from Triple-A Norfolk and pitched two-thirds of an inning in relief, allowing no runs and no hits.
–Field Level Media
