Chicago @ Cleveland preview
Progressive Field
Last Meeting ( May 19, 2011 ) Cleveland 2, Chi. White Sox 8
THE STORY: The Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians open an important three-game series in the American League Central race Friday night at Progressive Field. The Indians are battling to hang on to first place in the division while the White Sox are trying to make up ground on both Cleveland and the Detroit Tigers. Both teams have played .500 ball since the All-Star break. The White Sox split six games in Detroit and Kansas City while the Indians went 4-4 in Baltimore and Minnesota. Chicago has won four of the five games against Cleveland this season.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, CSN (Chicago), STO (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox RH Gavin Floyd (7-9, 4.37 ERA) vs. Indians RH Carlos Carrasco (8-7, 4.25 ERA).
Floyd won for the first time since June 1 when he held the Tigers to one run in 7 2/3 innings in his last start. He had gone six starts - with four losses - between victories. Floyd defeated the Indians on May 19 in Chicago, allowing one run in seven innings. He's 5-3 with a 4.88 ERA in his career against Cleveland. After winning seven times in a stretch of nine starts, Carrasco has lost three in a row. He's lasted only 14 innings and has been hit for 14 runs and 22 hits, including four home runs. Carrasco has lost both career decisions to the White Sox, including an April 2 outing in which he allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings.
ABOUT THE INDIANS (51-46): Memo to Cleveland general manager Chris Antonetti: Your team needs help. And the sooner, the better. Grady Sizemore, who is on the disabled list for the third time this season, had surgery for a sports hernia on Thursday and will miss four to six weeks. Sizemore has also dealt with injuries to both knees. Cleveland's outfield gets thinner by the day. Michael Brantley (stomach flu) and Travis Buck (hit in the head with a pitch) missed the last two games. While those situations don't appear to be serious, the Indians desperately need to acquire an outfielder before the July 31 trade deadline.
ABOUT THE WHITE SOX (47-51): Losing on a walk-off wild pitch doesn't happen very often, but the White Sox managed to pull that off against the host Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. Sergio Santos' wild pitch in the 11th inning sent Chicago to its second straight loss in the series. The White Sox failed to take advantage of the Indians losing two straight in Minnesota and still trail Cleveland by 4 1/2 games in the AL Central. Chicago's punchless offense continued to struggle, which is nothing new for manager Ozzie Guillen. The White Sox managed five hits and their only run came on Carlos Quentin's homer.
FINAL PITCH: Adam Dunn missed Wednesday's game with a sore knee. Guillen hopes a couple of days off will help his struggling designated hitter, who is batting .158 and has struck out 124 times in 284 at-bats.