Rangers hope to keep offense going against White Sox
The Chicago White Sox will try to bounce back from a particularly bad day in an already ugly season when they host the Texas Rangers for the third contest of a four-game series Saturday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Chicago (11-30) lost its everyday left fielder, Nicky Delmonico, to a broken bone in his right hand during Friday's 12-5 loss to the Texas Rangers. Delmonico is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks with the injury.
"Tough break," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said to reporters after the game. "It's one of those things, every club deals with it. For us, we're going to miss Nicky's bat in the lineup and the energy. He's still going to be around, obviously. We'll just have to make an adjustment and continue to move forward."
The White Sox will announce a corresponding roster move before Saturday's game. Delmonico's absence figures to mean more playing time for Leury Garcia, who is hitting .260 with two home runs and 11 RBI in 34 games.
Garcia also provides a speed element to the lineup. He is 7-for-7 on stolen-base attempts this season, and he credits third base coach Nick Capra with helping him on the base paths.
"He has helped me a lot, watching video and seeing what the pitcher does when I'm on first base (and) second base," Garcia said to the Chicago Sun-Times. "I try to get a good jump, and when I get a good jump, I know that I'll be close."
Texas (18-28) will go for back-to-back wins after pounding out a season-high 12 runs on 10 hits, five walks and a pair of hit batsmen Friday. The Rangers scored in each of the first three innings for the first time since Sept. 4.
Despite the uptick in offense, pitching remains a concern for Texas. The Rangers have been without left-hander Cole Hamels (2-4, 3.48 ERA) for the past couple days because of tightness in his neck, and manager Jeff Banister said Hamels will not be ready to start Saturday either.
"Like anything else, you want to be at your best," Hamels said to MLB.com. "At times, we do pitch through some bumps and bruises, ... but when you notice you cannot look at the target when you throw a baseball, it's not good."
Instead, the Rangers will call up Ariel Jurado from Double-A Frisco to make the start Saturday in his major league debut.
The 22-year-old Jurado is 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA in six starts for the RoughRiders this season with 18 strikeouts and eight walks.
Right-hander Lucas Giolito (2-4, 6.91 ERA) is scheduled to make his ninth start of the season for the White Sox. He is coming off an up-and-down performance against the Chicago Cubs in which he walked seven batters but escaped with three runs allowed in 5 2/3 innings.
Giolito has struggled with his command during much of this season, walking 32 batters while striking out 24. He never has faced the Rangers in his career.
