Having smartly timed their turn to lead correctly in a seesaw game last night, the White Sox try to pick up another victory over the Nationals this afternoon, albeit under much different conditions. A nor’easter that hit overnight has dropped the temperature more than 20° from yesterday and produced 25 mph wind gusts that should come from left to right throughout the game.
This is a game where the pitching matchup certainly looks to favor the Sox. They have Noah Schultz on the mound for his third major league start, his last outing being an outstanding five-inning, one hit, one walk (!), six K, one-run victory over the A’s.
The Nats counter with 29-year old righty Jake Irvin, who has an awful 6.00 ERA despite opponents only hitting .220 against him, his big problem being 11 walks in 24 innings, though he went five innings without a walk against the Braves last time out. Irvin has a six-pitch repertoire, but tops out 92ish. Combined with an inability to hit his spots, that may prove a problem for Irvin against the power-surging Sox lineup:
Should Edgar Quero need to leave the game for whatever reason his backup is now Drew Romo, called up from Charlotte, with Reese McGuire DFA’d. Romo only hit .167 in a brief turn with the Rockies last year, but has been tearing up Triple-A pitching to the tune of .298/.385/.561 this spring.
Schultz will be firing his five-pitch mix to a Washington lineup that probably would have scored several more runs last night were it not for terrible baserunning (isn’t it nice when it’s the opponents who blow games on the bases?). And yes, that is ex-Sox Curtis Mead batting second and playing second for the Nats today; apparently like us, Washington also uses the waiver wire for “major talent” acquisition:
First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. Central with the temp 47° and the wind left to right field at 15 mph, gusting to 25. Usual broadcast suspects.
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