The Chicago White Sox (6-5) dropped two of their first three games against the Baltimore Orioles (7-5) during a rain-drenched series, but they get a chance to earn a split with a win in a Thursday afternoon matchup at U.S. Cellular Field. Gavin Floyd takes the mound for the Sox in a follow-up to his six innings of scoreless ball thrown against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, while the Orioles turn to Jason Hammel. The former Rockies starter is coming off a less-than-spectacular pitching performance against the Toronto Blue Jays, but he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his first regular season start in 2012 and has been good so far this year.
The Sox bats have gotten off to a slow start again this season -- aside from catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who has been killing the ball -- and Zach Meisel of MLB.com caught up with slugger Paul Konerko, who says it's unfair to judge the Sox on such a small sample size:
Veteran first baseman Paul Konerko stressed how important it is to not get caught up in such a small sample size, just a couple weeks into the season.
"Everybody is kind of guilty early in the year," Konerko said, "looking at a 20 or 30 at-bat sample and making judgments off of that. Even smart people.
"Everybody knows it's wrong and still does it. A tradition, I guess. It's up to the players. ... There's a lot of distractions in the big leagues, and if it was just about playing the game it would be a lot easier."
Here is the key information you need to locate today's game.
Date / Time: 1:10 PM CT, Thursday, April 19, 2012
Location: U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago, IL
Starting Pitchers: Jason Hammel (1-0, 2.08 ERA) vs. Gavin Floyd (1-1, 3.09 ERA)
TV: CSN-Chicago
Radio: AM 670 The Score
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage of this series, check out South Side Sox and Camden Chat. For more news and notes from around baseball, visit Baseball Nation.
