66-55 this season

So last night was. . . interesting. What started out as a game that you might have been ready to give up on, it ended with a victory and a wider lead in the AL Central. Tonight, the Sox will try to make it two in a row over the  Yankees. To that end, Robin is sending out the following guys in hopes of something good, REAL good:

Dewayne Wise CF, Youk 3B, Big Donkey DH, The King 1B, Alex Rios RF, AJ Pierzynski C, The Cuban Tank LF, The Cuban Missile SS, Bacon 2B. 

Francisco Liriano will start for the White Sox and is trying to pick up his fifth win on the season. It would be his second win as a member of the Pale Hose.

Fans and management will be hoping tonight that Francisco has a great night and a lot of economical pitching tonight. After yanking the starter in the third inning for being bad, the bullpen got some work. Even though there is an off day coming up, the Sox really can’t afford to keep overworking those guys. It’s on Liriano tonight to give them a break. 

In his last start, Francisco got the win against the Blue Jays. In that game, he allowed just tw runs on three hits in 6.1 innings. He did give up one walk, but he did strike out six. Against the Yankees, he is 1-4 with a 4.02 ERA over eight games, with seven of those being starts. The last time he faced the Yankees was in April when he was a member of the Twins. He lost that game after allowing five runs on seven hits. He only survived 2.1 innings.

72-50 this season

Joe Girardi is sending out the following guys to get back on the winning track:

Derek Jeter SS, Nick Swisher RF, Robinson Cano 2B, Mark Teixeira 1B, Andruw Jones LF, Curtis Granderson CF, Jayson Nix 3B, Casey McGehee DH, Russel Martin C.

Ivan Nova is starting for the Yankees tonight. Nova is making his 25th start of the season and fifth career against the Sox. In his last start against the Sox in June of this year, Nova got a no-decision. He pitched 7.1 innings where he allowed six hits, three walks and had five strike outs. He left with a 2-1 lead, but the Sox ended up scoring three runs in the ninth inning after a bullpen “implosion” (pitcher commits error, allows runners on base and then a dinger seals the deal.)

Nova’s last start was also a no decision. This time against the Rangers, but the Yankees did go on to win the game. He did give up four earned runs in 5.1 innings. Though he did get a no decision, August has been a good month for Ivan to play in. In his career in August, he is 7-1 making it his best in terms of wins and winning percentage. The 7-1 record is in 10 career games.

*Notes: Alejandro De Aza, as expected was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to August 18 with bruised ribs. Jordan Danks has been recalled from Charlotte. With his single in last night’s game, Ichiro Suzuki has a hit in 22 of the 24 games he has played in since getting traded to the Yankees.