The Chicago White Sox make a quick return to American League Central Division play starting Thursday night with a four-game series at Minnesota to face the Twins.
There were two ways to look at the club’s just-completed trip to Baltimore. The negative: Two games were postponed and the one game that was played ended in a resounding defeat. The positive: Despite all the White Sox went through this past week, they were left with only one defeat.
The problem is that the positive doesn’t lend itself into any type of advantage heading into the Twins series.
At 8-10, the White Sox have been nowhere near expectations, and most of their issues continue to be on offense. Where an impatient approach at the plate was criticized in the early going, the White Sox have actually walked 21 times over their last eight games, but it isn't doing much for overall production.
Over the past four games, the White Sox are batting just .179 with two doubles and no home runs. A main reason they have just scored just 12 runs over that stretch is a .184 batting average with runners in scoring position.
Heading into play Thursday night, the White Sox are 11th or lower in the AL in seven key offensive categories. They are 11th in batting average (.236), 12th in slugging percentage (.350), 13th in OPS (.639) and 14th in home runs (12). They are dead last in the AL in runs(62), runs per game (3.44) and on-base percentage (.289).
The White Sox did take two of three games from the Twins already this season, but those games were at U.S. Cellular Field. The White Sox head into Target field 2-7 on the road this season and have been outscored 48-29.
Since the start of the 2013 season, the White Sox have the second-worst road winning percentage in all of baseball at .357 (61-110). The only team worse is the Colorado Rockies at .328.
HEAD TO HEAD
White Sox left-hander Chris Sale is 7-1 in his career against the Twins with a 2.37 ERA in 17 appearances (nine starts), with a 4-1 record and a 2.21 ERA in nine games (five starts) at Target Field. … White Sox starter Jose Quintana struggles against the Twins’ Joe Mauer, as the left-handed hitter has a .429 batting average against him (9-for-21) with two home runs. … White Sox right-hander Hector Noesi has struck out 30 Twins batters over 43 1/3 innings, his highest strikeout total against any major-league team. … John Danks has trouble containing the Twins’ Torii Hunter, who is 16 for 50 (.320) in the matchup with two doubles, four home runs and 11 RBI. … Members of the White Sox’s 40-man roster have 32 combined at-bats against Twins starter Trevor May, and the lone home run is from Adrian Nieto, currently catching at Double-A Birmingham. … Of the eight White Sox players who have faced Twins starter Kyle Gibson over a combined 38 at-bats, only Conor Gillaspie (two) and Alexei Ramirez (three) have multiple hits.
NOTES
Jose Abreu’s eight-game hitting streak was snapped after an 0-for-4 performance Wednesday … The first major league team Abreu faced as a rookie last season was the Twins and he loves the matchup with the division rival, batting .367 with four home runs, 18 RBIs and a 1.078 OPS in his 21 games against Minnesota. … Avisail Garcia has been on an offensive run of late, hitting in five consecutive games, while reaching base safely in 16 of his 17 games this season. … The 1.29 ERA from the White Sox’s bullpen since April 11 is the second best in the major leagues. … The White Sox are 8-9 against AL Central foes this season and Thursday marks a stretch of seven consecutive games against the division, before opening interleague play against the Cincinnati Reds at home on May 8. … The last time Twins starter Trevor May pitched, he was hit in the right elbow by a line drive against Seattle on Saturday and was removed in the fourth inning. … Twins setup man Casey Fien was placed on the disabled list Thursday with a right shoulder strain and right-hander Michael Tonkin was recalled from Triple-A Rochester.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Thursday: White Sox LH Chris Sale (2-0, 2.37 ERA) vs. Twins RH Trevor May (1-1, 4.91), 7:10 p.m. CST
Friday: White Sox LH Jose Quintana (1-1, 6.55) vs. Twins RH Kyle Gibson (1-2, 4.84), 7:10 p.m. CST
Saturday: White Sox RH Hector Noesi (0-2, 5.23) vs. Twins TBA, 1:10 p.m. CST
Sunday: White Sox LH John Danks (1-2, 5.64) vs. Twins TBA, 1:10 p.m. CST