The Chicago White Sox have a chance to complete their first three-game sweep of the season when they face the Minnesota Twins in the series finale Thursday
afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Chicago (28-51) is coming off back-to-back wins by margins of 8-4 and 6-1 over the Twins in the series’ first two games. The White Sox have won three
straight
Will Hernandez Jersey , including a 10-3 decision over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday afternoon.
A win Thursday would give the White Sox their longest win streak of the season.
Minnesota (34-42) is hoping to salvage a win in the series and turn around a tough week for the club. The Twins have dropped two in a row and five of their
past six to fall eight games below .500, which is tied with their low-water mark
for the season.
White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito (5-7, 7.01 ERA) will try to build upon his recent improvement in his 16th start of the season. The highly touted
23-year-old has struggled badly with command this year, but has 14 strikeouts
and only four walks in his past two outings.
Giolito is 1-2 with a 4.42 ERA in three career starts against Minnesota. Two of those starts took place this season, with the 6-foot-6
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Lately, Giolito has found success by not thinking so much about his pitching mechanics.
“It’s been kind of a long road to figure that out,” Giolito said to his team’s official website. “But I’m definitely in a much better place right now
with that, just letting it flow. The key words are let it flow. Just go out
there and be athletic. …
“It’s like the desire to be as good as I can be to the point where I’ve overanalyzed things and been like, ‘What am I doing wrong? What should I fix?
What can I fix?’
“I’m doing that instead of being like
Youth Justin Jones Jersey , ‘Hey, I’m here, I’m going to compete and let it all happen and just be athletic and let what I’ve been doing for years take
over.'”
The Twins will counter with right-hander Jake Odorizzi (3-5, 4.97 ERA) for his 17th start of the season. The Illinois native has 80 strikeouts in 79 2/3
innings this season, but his walk rate (4.1 per nine innings) is the highest
since his rookie campaign in 2012 with the Kansas City Royals.
Odorizzi is 1-2 with a 4.13 ERA in five career starts against the White Sox. He has an 0-1 record with a 5.23 ERA (six earned runs in 10 1/3 innings) in two
starts against Chicago this season.
Avisail Garcia has homered in back-to-back games for the White Sox and could pose a challenge for Odorizzi
Nate Solder Jersey Elite , who has given up 14 long balls this year. Jose Abreu also is coming off a much better day at the plate in which he slammed
his 12th home run and showed signs of breaking out of a slump.
For the Twins, Ehire Adrianza carries a hot bat into the series finale. He went 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI on Wednesday night, elevating his season
average to .264 with four homers and 17 RBIs.
Chicago is 16-26 at home; Minnesota is 14-22 on the road.
After the game, the Twins will stay in Chicago and head about 8 miles north to take on the Cubs in a weekend series. Minnesota is 6-6 in interleague action
compared with a 28-36 record against AL teams.
The Oakland Raiders have signed free agent quarterback Josh Johnson to compete for the backup position.
The team on Monday also officially announced the signing of cornerback Shareece Wright, who said last week he agreed to join the Raiders
Falcons Elite Jerseys , and the details of a trade agreed to over the weekend that sent kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson to New England.
The Raiders will get the 159th overall pick in next month's draft from the Patriots in exchange for Patterson and the 210th overall pick.
Wright spent last season in Buffalo, where he had one interception and five passes defensed in 12 games.
Johnson is an Oakland native and was drafted by Tampa Bay in Raiders coach Jon Gruden's last season there in 2008. Johnson has spent time with 10 teams and
started five games. He has completed 96 of 177 passes for 1,042 yards, five
touchdowns and 10 interceptions and a 57.7 passer rating.
Johnson hasn't thrown a pass in the NFL since 2011 and will compete with Connor Cook to become Derek Carr's backup.
.
