White Sox and Phillies Looking to Continue Winning Ways
Major League Baseball’s regular season resumes on Thursday night. Here are a few matches to keep an eye on.
White Sox looking for ninth straight win
The first half of the season could not have ended much better for the Chicago White Sox as they won eight consecutive games. Not a bad way to enter the break and boost the team’s spirit. The winning streak has given Chicago a half-game lead in the American League Central.
With things so tight in the AL Central, the second half figures to be just as close, thus every victory is important and can ultimately become the difference down the stretch.
The White Sox and Minnesota Twins are fully aware of what is at stake. Despite this being simply a match during the midway point of the regular season, this game holds large importance and both will be looking to open the second half of the season with a win, and carry that momentum throughout the month of July.
The White Sox have a three-game lead over the Twins and cannot afford to fall very much behind their foes.
Chicago lefty John Danks, who was among the White Sox's most consistent players entering the break, will take the mount tonight and pitch to begin the second half. Danks has allowed three runs or fewer in all but one of his past six starts.
If he can repeat this performance against the Twins, his coaches along with his team mates will be more than pleased, as it will increase their winning streak to nine.
Facing a tough pitcher in Danks, the Twins will need a strong performance from right-hander Kevin Slowey if they wish to start their second half on the right foot.
Similar to Chicago, Minnesota will need all of its pitchers to return to form and be ready when called upon. If they fail to keep pace with the surging White Sox, the Twins may dig themselves a hole early on and find it very hard to catch the top spot in the AL Central.
Phillies looking for win number 5
The White Sox aren’t the only team hoping to continue their winning ways and keep momentum in the second half. The Philadelphia Phillies are coming off a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.
"It's a great way to go into the break and we can just kind of relax now and get focused for the second half," Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard said. "The focus is to go and relax. We've been banged up, we'll try and get a little bit healthy and kind of take the mind off ball a little bit."
Like so many other MLB teams, much of the Phillies' success has been thanks to their pitchers. Look no further than Roy Halladay, who has already pitched a perfect game this season, and Cole Hamels.
In the second-half opener, the Cubs will counter one of Philadelphia's aces with Ryan Dempster. The Cubs are 9 1/2 games back of Cincinnati and 8 1/2 behind second place St. Louis in the Central race.
Dodgers and Cardinals seeking momentum.
The Cardinals struggled to close out the first half, winning only four of their last 11 games. That is not the way a team wants to enter the midway stage of the season. A team on a losing streak can be a ravenous team which might cause problems for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers are two games behind first-place San Diego and are looking to steam over a struggling Cardinal team searching for answers. If you are looking for silver linings, their rookie Jon Jay is on a 11-game hitting streak.
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