The Chicago White Sox are in a spot on their schedule where they need to make a move.
There are signs that they’re going to take advantage of that.
There’s still work do be done, though, as a four-game series against the Texas Rangers begins Thursday night at Arlington, Texas.
“We have to prove it from here to the end,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said.
For the White Sox, it’s the beginning of a two-city, eight-game road trip. They’ve won their past two games, with Wednesday’s 4-1 victory against the visiting Kansas City Royals featuring a rain delay.
The White Sox have also won four of their last five games. They’ve captured five of the first eight games during a stretch on the schedule that has them playing 19 straight games against teams with losing records.
With some of the success, there should be confidence brewing for the White Sox, especially for Jose Abreu, who has homered in each of the past two games.
“It just looks like we’re benefitting from staying the course and the confidence that we’re good enough,” La Russa said.
With a 53-51 record, this is the first time Chicago has been two games above .500 since April 20.
“You just got to go 1-0 every day,” White Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn said.
The Rangers are riding a three-game losing skid after they were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in their first home games since the All-Star break. It marked the fourth time this season that Texas has been a sweep victim in a series of three or more games.
“We got to bring it. We got to come back and bring it against the White Sox (Thursday),” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “We cannot give in right now and we have to come out fighting.”
Woodward said he knows these are tough times to get through during a season and he tried to give some players time off during the past series in hopes of keeping them fresh. But with the offense continually stalling, it’s difficult to find much spunk.
“We didn’t do much in the beginning,” Woodward said. “Just a couple miscues here and there. … Those little things obviously mounted up to us losing.”
The Rangers scored a total of seven runs in the Baltimore series, and it doesn’t appear to be getting any easier with the White Sox arriving.
Right-hander Johnny Cueto (4-4, 2.86 ERA) goes to the mound for the White Sox, looking to build on a solid July where he won both his decisions and had five solid outings.
He lost in his only previous decision versus Texas, though that came in a start for the Cincinnati Reds that lasted just one batter into the second inning because of tightness in a lat muscle in 2013.
The Rangers have lined up left-hander Cole Ragans (0-0, 0.00) to be the starter.
Ragans, 24, will be making his major league debut after splitting the season at Triple-A Round Rock and Double-A Frisco.
–Field Level Media
