Saturday Recap & Father's Day Preview
/Hector Noesi actually looked pretty good to start the game on Saturday. He had a very clear plan the first time through the lineup, getting ahead of hitters on strike one, sitting about 92, and then attacking very aggressively once getting to two strikes, dialing it up to 94-95, going up and in on righties, and sweeping his breaking stuff everywhere. At first he only allowed a few unlucky hits on weak contact that went for no damage. Then the fourth inning was a combination of poor control by Noesi, atrocious defense (a Leury Garcia error and a Dayan Viciedo-it-wasn't-called-an-official-error-but-he-messed-up) meant the Royals would put up a 5-spot. Danny Duffy was on his game and that was far more than he would need.
Paul Konerko was the lone bright spot, going 3/4 with his solo home run accounting for all of the White Sox' scoring in the game. Unfortunately, Daniel Webb was very ineffective in his inning of mop-up work.
The White Sox are facing an extreme uphill battle today to avoid a sweep and a four-game losing streak. James Shields takes the mound for Kansas City against an offense that is suddenly struggling mightily. The White Sox counter with Andre Rienzo, whose bad peripherals have caught up with him in his last two outings. Rienzo has failed to make it out of the fourth both of his last times taking the mound, even giving up 7 runs in his last performance. There have been rumblings about a blister hampering his ability to spin his curveball, which is a pretty crucial pitch for him, and perhaps getting a couple extra days of rest will help him out. The fact is, if there were better options available it's hard to imagine he would have kept his spot in the rotation, and as time goes on each start is potentially a last chance to show he can cut the mustard.
White Sox
1. Adam Eaton - CF
2. Gordon Beckham - 2B
3. Conor Gillaspie - 3B
4. Jose Abreu - 1B
5. Adam Dunn - DH
6. Alexei Ramirez -SS
7. Dayan Viciedo - RF
8. Alejandro de Aza - LF
9. Adrian Nieto - C
SP - Andre Rienzo
Conor Gillaspie and Adam Dunn make their return to the lineup with the righty on the mound and they will be sorely needed. Konerko's glorious Saturday notwithstanding, they are vastly superior to Leury Garcia and Paul Konerko at the dish. And even with his poor start to 2014, one has to feel that de Aza is a better option than Moises Sierra with the proper platoons.
Royals
1. Jarrod Dyson - CF
2. Omar Infante - 2B
3. Eric Hosmer - 1B
4. Billy Butler - DH
5. Alex Gordon - LF
6. Salvador Perez - C
7. Lorenzo Cain - CF
8. Mike Moustakas - 3B
9. Alcides Escobar - SS
SP - James Shields
Things have been going so well for Kansas City and so poorly for the White Sox of late that even Mike Moustakas had a breakout game yesterday. Set your expectations low and maybe we will be pleasantly surprised.
Happy Father's Day to all.
Where to watch: CSN and Fox Sports Kansas City at 1:10 CST
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