68-55 this season

The Sox are streaking. The Mariners are really streaking. Three-game win streak versus eight-game winning streak. Who will falter first? Tonight that question will be answered as the Sox go for four in a row while the Mariners will go for nine in a row.

Here is Robin’s lineup tonight to ensure it is four:

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. 

Jake “Dirt Bag” Peavy will start for the Sox tonight. Aside from a win, Jake probably would love to get just a little bit of run support in his start tonight. Tonight is his 25th start of the season and 12th at home. If you believed Jake would last this long into the season, good for you. I was skeptical, but he has proven time and again he is healthy, which is nice to see.

So far this season, he has allowed three or fewer runs in nine of his games. In other words, he has been sure to give the team a chance to win. His last start was against the PITAs and he suffered the loss. He threw 5.1 innings where he gave up three earned runs (five total surrendered) on nine hits. He did strike out six and walked one. The 5.1 innings pitched tied his season low in innings in a game. He also only survived 5.1 in a game against the Tigers in Detroit. 

Against the Mariners, Dirt Bag is 5-1 with a 2.21 ERA in eight career starts. At the Cell, he is 2-1 with a 3.09 ERA in five starts. The last time he faced the Mariners, he got a no decision. That was in June at US Cellular where he threw 6.1 innings and allowed just two runs. A few current Mariners have done well in the last five years against Jake. Only Miguel Olivo has taken Jake out of the park with a home run though.

61-64 this season

Eric Wedge will send out the following guys to make it NINE:

Dustin Ackley 2B, Michael Saunders CF, Kyle Seager 3B, John Jason DH, Jesus Montero C, Eric Thames RF, Justin Smoak 1B, Trayvon Robinson LF, Brendan Ryan SS.

Jason Vargas will start for the Mariners tonight. His last start was a no decision in a Mariners’ walkoff win against the Twins. In that game, Vargas allowed two earned runs in 6.2 innings. It was also his 18th quality start of the season and the third straight year he has had at least 18 quality starts.

In his career against the Sox, Vargas is 0-1 with a 6.93 ERA. He has 19 strikeouts in 24.2 innings worth of work. At the Cell, he is 0-0 with a 4.91 ERA in three starts. Tonight his his fifth career start and sixth appearance against the Sox.

*Notes: The White Sox are the only team with four or more players that have 20 or more home runs. Dayan Viciedo has 19 and could become the fifth member of the 20+ home run group. The Mariners have hit home runs in six straight game and 18 in their last 14 games.