60-50 this season

Another day, another grind. Time for the Sox to get back at it after dropping the series earlier in the week to the Royals. Tonight, they will face the Athletics and former Sox pitcher Brandon McCarthy will be making a return visit to Chicago.

To get back on track, Robin is sending out the following guys to slow down the surging A’s:

Alejandro De Aza CF, Youk 3B, Big Donkey 1B, Alex Rios RF, AJ Pierzynski C, The Cuban Missile SS, The Cuban Tank DH, Jordan Danks LF, Bacon 2B. 

Mr. Consistently Inconsistent will start tonight for the Sox. Lately, Gavin has been fairly decent at home, though his last start against the Angels last weekend was anything but. In his prior four starts at home, Gavin is 3-0 with a 2.39 ERA. He has also managed to go at least six innings in all of those starts.

As for his last start against the Angels, he got a no decision after allowing five runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings. He did strike out six and issue three walks. The biggest problem was that Gavin was wild from the start in that game. He even got the Bronx cheer when he managed to throw just one strike in the first inning. Given how he started in that game, it is rather amazing he managed to settle down enough to get in at least six innings.

Against the A’s, Gavin is 3-2 with a 2.17 ERA in eight career starts. At home, he’s been pretty good with a 2-0 record and 1.27 ERA in three starts. The last time he faced the A’s he took a loss to them at the Coliseum in April. He allowed just one run on two hits in 7.1 innings worth of work. However, the last time he saw them at the Cell, he won in allowing just one run on four hits in seven innings.

Currently, Coco Crisp, Brandon Moss and Brandon Inge have hit Floyd well. Only Brandon Inge has taken Gavin out of the park though.

60-51 this season

Bob Melvin will send out the following guys to try and keep his team rolling as well as keep the Sox down:

Coco Crisp CF, Jemile Weeks 2B, Josh Reddick RF, Yoenis Cespedes LF, Chris Carter 1B, Brandon Moss DH, Brandon Inge 3B, Derek Norris C, Cliff Pennington SS. 

Brandon McCarthy will start for the Athletics today. The former White Sox pitcher is having quite a nice year for himself out in Oakland with a 6-3 record and a 2.54 ERA to go with it. Brandon is making his first start in the Majors since June 19 after being on the disabled list with shoulder soreness that has been plaguing him forever.

Brandon was put on the disabled list June 24 retroactive to June 20 with a strained right shoulder. So far this season, Brandon has been on the disabled list twice and eight times in his career overall. When he is pitching of late, he has been very effective. in his last seven starts, he is 6-0 with a 1.96 ERA and opponents are just hitting .208 off of him during that stretch. Brandon’s last start was on June 19 against the Dodgers and he won that game after pitching seven innings, giving up just two hits, one walk and striking out five batters.

Against the White Sox, he is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in two career starts. The last time he faced the Sox was May 2011 where he took the loss. He pitched seven innings given up four runs, three of which were earned on five hits. He also walked two and struck out six.

In the past five years, only Alex Rios has seen Brandon quite a bit. He has 10 at-bats against him, but he only has one hit so far. Paul Konerko and Ray Olmedo have hit decently off of McCarthy, each with a .500 batting average, though in four and two at-bats respectively. SMALL SAMPLE SIZE!  No one in the past five years has taken Brandon out of the park . . . yet.