Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox series preview

Probable Pitchers

Friday: Jose Berrios (8-3, 2.84 ERA) vs. TBD

The Twins will send their ace to the mound in the opener of the three-game set as Jose Berrios will look to continue his recent stretch of dominance. In his last four starts, Berrios has compiled a 1.63 ERA and has struck out 25 batters in 27 2/3 innings. While his line was fudged by a blister that forced him to leave his June 22 start against the Kansas City Royals, the right-hander should be good to go for the opener.

Meanwhile, the White Sox will be making a call-up after designating Odrisamer Despaigne for assignment earlier this week. The exact identity has been kept a secret, but the Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan speculates it could be Dylan Covey, who went on the injured list with shoulder inflammation earlier this month or lefty Hector Santiago.

Saturday: Michael Pineda (4-4, 5.02 ERA) vs. Ivan Nova (3-6, 5.91 ERA)

Michael Pineda‘s stats don’t show it, but he’s been a solid back-end starter for the Twins this season. His last start against the Royals on Sunday saw him get tagged for five runs in the third inning, but outside of that, he was able to silence the Kansas City bats to go five innings. That start was the first one in his past nine where he allowed three or more runs, so he’ll look to get back on track on Saturday.

His opponent is another journeyman in a White Sox rotation that has been ravaged by injuries. With Manny Banuelos and Carlos Rondon already on the IL, Chicago has had to dive into its depth and stick with Ivan Nova despite an ERA just south of six. Nova has also struggled at Guaranteed Rate Field, going 0-3 with an 8.79 ERA in six starts this season.

Sunday: Kyle Gibson (8-4, 4.21 ERA) vs. Lucas Giolito (10-2, 2.87 ERA)

It remains to be seen whether Kyle Gibson will make this start after coming out of the bullpen in emergency duty on Thursday afternoon. In the likely event he does, he’ll be looking to channel the good parts of his start against Tampa Bay on Monday, where he held the Rays to just one run through seven innings before allowing three runs in the eighth. In a May 25 start against Chicago, Gibson went seven innings, allowing one run on five hits and a walk while striking out nine.

Lucas Giolito has been the one bright spot for the Chicago rotation this year as he seems to have figured it out. The 24-year old is currently sixth in the American League in strikeouts per nine innings with 10.9 and is seventh in ERA coming into Sunday’s start. Despite the overall success, he’s allowed nine runs in his past two outings including three runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Red Sox on Tuesday.

Outlook

With the White Sox down Anderson and possibly Moncada, they’ll have to rely on their battered pitching staff to keep the Twins down. Even though the Twins are dealing with numerous injuries of their own, they still have enough firepower to take a series on the road before heading to Oakland.

If the Twins can get strong starting pitching, they should have a chance to save their bullpen and win two-of-three games.