White Sox take second game of series against Twins, will try for sweep Thursday

Billy Hamilton

The White Sox are now nine games ahead of the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central after their 13-8 victory Wednesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Sure, it's only May 13, but it's worth noting that the defending division champion Twins (12-22) are 10 games below .500, and they're digging themselves quite a hole. 

Meanwhile, the Sox are 21-13 and remain in first place, one game ahead of the Cleveland Indians.

There wasn't much pitching in Wednesday's game. In fact, as a fan of well-pitched games, it was a little irritating to watch at times. The Sox were ahead 12-3 after five innings, and they were never really in danger, but it wasn't a clean finish for the bullpen.

But instead of dwelling on that, let's look at some Sox offensive highlights:

• Billy Hamilton went 4 for 4 with three runs scored and an RBI. He finished a home run short of the cycle. 
• Andrew Vaughn had only one hit, but it was the first home run of his career -- a two-run shot off J.A. Happ as part of a five-run rally in the bottom of the fourth inning.
• Jose Abreu went 2 for 5 with an RBI triple and a two-run single. All three of his RBIs came with two outs.
• Speaking of two-out RBIs, Yoan Moncada had a two-out, two-run single to cap a three-run fifth inning. Teams that get two-out RBIs win championships.
• Yasmani Grandal continued his bizarre, three-true-outcomes season. He went 1 for 3 with a home run, two walks, a strikeout and three runs scored. His ridiculous slash line now stands at .130/.384/.333.

The Sox will try for the sweep Thursday afternoon, and they'll face their nemesis -- right-hander Michael Pineda. Since Pineda joined the Twins, he's started five games against the Sox. Minnesota has won all five times.

Lance Lynn will get the call for the Sox. Carlos Rodon had his start pushed back to Saturday. Apparently, Rodon is dealing with some minor ailments -- back tightness and an achy hamstring and whatnot -- so the Sox are being cautious with him. Thanks to the off day Monday, Lynn will work on regular rest -- he last pitched Saturday in Kansas City.

American League news: Yankees dealing with early injuries

Luis Severino

The New York Yankees are among the favorites in the American League this season, but they have had some bad news on the injury front during the first couple weeks of spring training.

The Yankees on Tuesday announced that starting pitcher Luis Severino has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The two-time All-Star needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2020 season.

New York already is without left-hander James Paxton, who will be out through at least April after having something called microscopic lumbar surgery. Right-hander Domingo German will not be eligible to return to the roster until June 5, as he must serve 63 more games of an 81-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy.

Don't cry for the Yankees too much, as they have the game's best pitcher, Gerrit Cole, at the front of their rotation. They also have veterans Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ to help hold things down until Paxton and German return.

But in the meantime, New York has two gaps in its rotation. Candidates to fill those roles include left-hander Jordan Montgomery and right-handers Jonathan Loaisiga and Luis Cessa.

In news that broke Wednesday, Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton's ability to start the season is in question because of a Grade 1 strain in his right calf. Manager Aaron Boone says Stanton will miss "a couple of weeks," which could make it difficult for him to be ready by March 26. Injuries limited Stanton to only 18 games in 2019.

Even with these injuries, New York is still the favorite in the AL East. That said, the Yankees could be vulnerable early in the season, and it would behoove the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox to get off to quick starts.

It was 'Sickly Lineup Wednesday' at Guaranteed Rate Field

J.A. Happ

We have entered what I believe will be the darkest days of White Sox's rebuild -- from now until the end of the 2017 season. The roster is depleted through both trades and injuries, and the South Siders will be outmanned in every game they play for the rest of the year.

That's going to be true even against other also-rans such as the Toronto Blue Jays, who took two out of three from the Sox this week at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Jays beat the Sox, 5-1, on Wednesday, and it would have been embarrassing for Toronto had it not won.

Take a look at the sickly Sox lineup trotted out there against Toronto starter J.A. Happ:

1. Tim Anderson, SS
2. Tyler Saladino, 3B
3. Jose Abreu, 1B
4. Kevan Smith, C
5. Nick Delmonico, LF
6. Leury Garcia, RF
7. Yolmer Sanchez, 2B
8. Alen Hanson, DH
9. Adam Engel, CF

Kevan Smith as cleanup hitter? Oh boy. You can't blame Sox manager Rick Renteria. He had only 10 healthy position players for this game. The only guy not in his lineup was the other catcher on the roster, Omar Narvaez.

Second baseman Yoan Moncada is day to day with a right quad bruise suffered in a nasty collision Monday night with right fielder Willy Garcia. That incident sent Garcia to the seven-day concussion list. The Sox already were minus their All-Star right fielder, Avisail Garcia. And Matt Davidson, who had two game-winning hits in as many days Sunday and Monday, also is day to day with a bruised right wrist after being hit by a pitch Tuesday night.

The Sox players who were not traded already have their work cut out for them trying to stay competitive in games, and the job has been made that much harder by this recent rash of injuries.

Happ (4-8) had been struggling coming into Wednesday, but he mostly cruised against this short-handed Sox lineup. He went seven innings, allowing one run. He struck out 10 and walked one for his first win since July 4. In his previous three games, he had 10 strikeouts *combined* in 17 innings.

But the Sox racked up 14 strikeouts against Happ and four Toronto relievers, and there was one stretch where 10 Sox batters in a row did not put the ball in play -- it was nothing but strikeouts and walks.

There's really not a whole helluva lot to analyze or talk about with this team at the moment. They are depleted. They are going to lose and lose a lot. There's no point in getting upset about it. As fans, we'll just have to wear it in the short run.