Just over a week after being pulled from the starting rotation due to supposed “elbow soreness” Chris Sale (3-1, 2.73 ERA) is back in the starting rotation.  However, Sale had an MRI done on Thursday which came back clean and therefore Kenny Williams, Robin Ventura and Don Cooper have made the decision to put him back into the rotation.

This certainly makes Chris Sale happy as he wants to start, but it does bring up some questions.  After all the talk last week about wanting to protect Sale’s long term future, now that seems to be a distant memory.  Or at least a mistake that will not be admitted.  Sale has done well as a starter and will look to continue that success.  He did have one appearance as the closer and blew a save. So who will be the closer?  It certainly has to be Addison Reed.  I thought this guy should have started the season in that role and he certainly deserves his shot now.

Sale’s opponent today will be Luke Hochevar (2-3, 9.00 ERA) of the Kansas City Royals.  In 3 of his six starts he is 2-0 and has an ERA of 2.55, but in his three losses he has an ERA of 20.03; so which pitcher will show up?  I sure hope it’s the bad one.

The game begins tonight at 7:10pm EDT in Chicago.  LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!

Last night Gavin Floyd threw a fantastic game allowing no runs on just five hits, walking two and striking out five through 7 2/3 innings at U.S. Cellular Field.

(John Gress/Getty Images)

He was able to keep the Kansas City Royals off balance all night, which helped the Chicago White Sox get a 5-0 win.  Floyd has been on a hot streak as of late allowing just 4 runs over his last 28 2/3 innings going 2-1 over those 4 starts.  Floyd left the game in the 8th with the bases loaded, but Matt Thorton was able to strike out Eric Hosmer on a slider out of the zone to end the inning.  Hector Santiago then pitched for the White Sox in the 9th inning and was able to get the final three outs to give the White Sox the win and get them one game under .500 at 16-17 on the season.

(John Gress/Getty Images)

The offense scored enough for Floyd and it began with Adam Dunn.  In the first inning he hit his 11th homerun on the season with a deep blast to right field.  That homerun ties his homerun total of all of last season!  Dunn also did something else that he has not done all season.  He didn’t strike out.  If he would have it would have set an MLB record for consecutive games played with a strikeout.  Dunn had a groud-rule double in the 3rd and walks in the 6th and 7th innings on the night.

(John Gress/Getty Images)

Dunn’s double in the 3rd was preceded by a single by Alejandro De Aza, followed by a stolen base and then an RBI single by Gordon Beckham to give the White Sox the 2-0 lead.  Beckham would have scored if the ball Dunn hit would not have hopped over the fence in the right field corner.  Beckham  would score in his next at-bat however.  He would lead off the 6th inning with a double and would come around to score, along with Adam Dunn, on a two-out triple by Alex Rios.

(John Gress/Getty Images)

The White Sox would add their final run in the 7th inning on a RBI single by Alejandro De Aza.  De Aza is now hitting .291 on the season after having a great month of May thus far.  It was good to see the White Sox have an early lead and keep it.  It was also nice to see them get a win at home where they have struggled.  And don’t forget getting a win against an AL Central opponent.  With the Indians and Tigers both losing last night helps the White Sox gain a game in the division.  Robin Ventura has the boys playing hard every game.  They are now a 1/2 game behind the Detroit Tigers (16-16) and 2 1/2 games behind the division leading Cleveland Indians (18-14).

These two teams do have a history.  Remember this…

After a day off yesterday the Chicago White Sox (15-17) will take on the Kansas City Royals (11-19) at 8:05pm EDT at U.S. Cellular Field.  This continues the run of division games in the month of May as they are 4-6 within the AL Central this month.  This will be the first time they face off against the Royals this season.

The starter for Chicago tonight will be Gavin Floyd (2-3, 3.03 ERA).  Floyd has been great over his last three starts allowing only 4 runs on 12 hits, but sadly he has had little offense around him in those games going 1-1 in those starts.  If the Sox offense is going to help Floyd they will need to get runs off of Felipe Paulino (1-0, 0.00 ERA).  Paulino made his first start of the season last Saturday after a stint on the DL to begin the season, he threw six shutout innings against the New York Yankees.

It should be a good game.  Especially since 20 out of the White Sox 32 games, including 8 out of their last 9 have been decided by three runs or less.

LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!

Jake Peavy did it again.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Once again he had a great start.  It is his 8th consecutive quality start dating back to last season.  And unlike some of the other starts this season, the White Sox offense provided him plenty of run support in this one.  The offense scored eight runs on nine hits and jumped out to an early lead against Cleveland and didn’t look back.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

In the first inning, Chicago took the lead thanks to Adam Dunn’s two-run blast.  It is his 10th home run of the season through just 32 games.  He had just 11 homers all of last season!  The 425-foot blast gave Chicago the 2-0 lead and would be plenty of offense for Peavy on this night.  The homer for Dunn is his 375th for his career and leaves him one home run away from tying Carlton Fisk for 68th all-time.  Dunn also has a team-high 25 RBI.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Peavy would roll from there as he took the mound in the bottom of the frame.  He would end up throwing seven solid innings and collecting his 4th win of the season.  He would allow just one run on seven hits, walked one and struck out five batters on the night.  He would also lower his ERA to 1.89 for the season.  For Peavy, the ultimate competitor, he wanted the shutout, but this will do.  Jake is pitching like the CY Young winner of 2007.  If he continues to pitch like this all season the White Sox have an outside shot at the division I think as long as the offense can provide enough run support for Peavy and the rest of the staff.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Last night that was not a problem.  In the 4th inning they had a huge inning off Cleveland starter Jeanmar Gomez that broke the game open.  In an inning that brought 10-men to the plate, the White Sox scored six runs.  Adam Dunn lead off the inning with a walk, which was followed by a single by Konerko, an RBI single by Pierzynski, a walk by Rios to load the bases, and a RBI single by Alexei Ramirez before the first out was recorded off the bat of Dayan Vicideo.  Eduardo Escobar would collect an RBI single in the next at-bat to make the score 5-1.  That was followed by Alejandro De Aza getting the 5th single of the inning that scored two runs.  That would be followed by a sacrafice-fly by Gordon Beckham to give Chicago a 8-0 lead.  Adam Dunn who began the inning would strike out to end it, but the damage had been done.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Gomez would battle through 6 2/3 innings saving his bullpen, but he would collect the loss allowing eight runs on nine hits, walking four and striking out two.  One of those strikeouts was to Adam Dunn in the 4th, which gave Dunn his 36th consecutive game with a strikeout.  That means he is now two strikeout games from setting a MLB record that was set in 1918 by Bill Stoneman.  But I will take the strikeouts if we can have the run production that he has provided this season.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

The win give the Sox a series split and improves their record to 15-17 as they return home to take on the Kansas City Royals, another AL Central opponent, on Friday night.  LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!

Tonight at 7:05pm EDT the Chicago White Sox (14-17) will look to split the 4-game set with the Cleveland Indians (17-12) in Cleveland at Progressive Field.  The White Sox at least need to manage a split in this one so they do not lose any ground against the AL Central leading Indians.  Over their last 8 games against AL Central foes the White Sox are just 2-6, after beginning the season 5-1 within the division.

To get the job done, they certainly have the right man on the mound in Jake Peavy (3-1, 1.99 ERA).  Peavy was named AL pitcher of the month for April.  His three wins could have been much more.  In his six starts he could easily have five wins.  All six of his games he has went at least six innings which is a quality start.  The most runs he has allowed in a game this season is three and has surrendered no more than 8 hits in a game.  In each of his starts he has walked no more than two batters and he has struck out at least five batters in each game.  Peavy’s career against Cleveland hasn’t been great as he is 2-3 with a 4.00 ERA in seven career starts, although he did have a three hit shutout against them last season on May 18th.

Against Peavy will be Jeanmar Gomez (2-1, 2.82 ERA) who will not be an easy man to face.  He has a great sinker and will look to get the Sox to have a ton of ground ball outs tonight.  So it is key to get to him early before the sinker starts sinking as the game rolls on.  Gomez is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in two starts against the White Sox in his career, both coming last season.

If this game comes down to the bullpen, both teams are solid there, so it may be up to whomever can grab an early lead that wins this one.  LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Alex Rios certainly has had a much better season in 2012 than 2011.  Last season he hit just .227 having 13 homers and 44 RBI in 145 games.  Through the 29 games he has played in this season he is hitting .294 with one homerun and 12 RBI.  The batting average is the stat that really jumps out, and in last nights game he certainly delivered the big hit.  With the game ties at 3-3 in the 10th inning, Rios delivered a go-ahead triple off of Cleveland closer Chris Perez.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

In last Thursday’s game when Rios grounded out to end the game, Rios and Perez exchanged heated words as Rios didn’t like the reaction of Perez on the mound.  Well, if you want to call this revenge go ahead.  For the White Sox it certainly was a big hit as Rios hit a ball in the right-center field gap that scored Brent Lillibridge all the way from first base.  Rios would score on the next at-bat on a fielder’s choice to second base when Rios slid under the tag on the throw home by Jason Kipnis to put the Sox ahead 5-3.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Rios was 3-for-4 in the game and helped Chicago snap a 3-game losing streak and snap a streak of losing four straight to Cleveland.  However it was not made easy.  John Danks had his best start of the season by far as he had a 3-0 lead when he left the game although he was responsible for the two runners on base.  Newly appointed closer Chris Sale entered the game in the 8th inning and was asked to get the final six outs.  Normally not asked to go two innings, with a loaded left-handed lineup the move made sense.  Plus with Sale starting all his other games this season, it is not a lot to ask for Sale to go two innings.  He would only make it through one inning though and he would blow the save in the process.  Chicago starter John Danks final line would be giving up two runs on five hits while walking three and striking out one through seven innings of work.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Thankfully the White Sox were able to rebound from Sale’s tough outing and once again Addison Reed is making a case for a shot to be the closer.  After Hector Santiago held Cleveland at bay in the bottom of the 9th to send the game to extra innings and the White Sox took the lead in the top of the 10th, Addison Reed came in to close out the game in the bottom of the 10th against a Indians club that seems to be hitting everything in sight late in games.  Reed struck out Asdrubal Cabrera looking, got Carlos Santana to fly out deep to left and then struck out Travis Hafner to end the game.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

The 5-3 win ended well but never should have been that close in my opinion.  Not only did Sale blow the game, the White Sox blew many chances to score more runs in support of Danks.  In the game they were 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base throughout the game.  Two of those three hits were not even base hits, they were RBI ground-outs.  Rios triple was with a runner on 1st and his run that he scored was ruled a fielder’s choice indifference.  So that is not good.  Cleveland starter Justin Masterson allowed six hits and walked five through his six innings of work, yet only allowed two runs.  The Sox had a baserunner in every inning but the 4th, 8th and 9th and had multiple baserunners in every inning but the 8th and 9th.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

But a win is a win.  I’ll take it and hope for a win tonight to salvage a split with Jake Peavy on the mound tonight in Cleveland.  You gotta love baseball.  LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!

Not only have the White Sox (13-17) lost their last 4 games to the Cleveland Indians (17-11) after winning their first three against them, John Danks has not fared well against them.  Although he won the game the first time he played them, he allowed 4 runs on 7 hits and walked five through 5 2/3 innings.  It took the White Sox scoring 10 runs to get the win.  In last Thursday’s game he wasn’t as lucky.  He allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits through seven innings in the 7-5 loss.  Justin Masterson has been up against Danks each time and allowed three runs in each game.

(Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Danks has a record of 2-4 this season with a 6.51 ERA.  Masterson has a record of 1-2 with a 5.20 ERA this season but has been much better in his last two starts after having an ERA of 6.65 in his first 4 starts.  So will it be a high scoring affair tonight?  I think so.  Although both have “ace” stuff and could surprise me.  Either way I will turn into WSCR 670 The Score to listen to the game.  This is the one disadvantage to not having cable.  And of course the MLB.TV package blocks out the “local” broadcasts on the “nationally televised” games.

It’s a huge game for the White Sox tonight.  I sure hope we can split this series.  Tonight’s game begins at 7:05pm EDT tonight.  LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

In a game that had a total of 1 hour and 25 minutes of a rain delay, they White Sox and Indians battled in a pitching duel that was eventually decided by the bullpen.  The White Sox eventually fell to the Indians 3-2, giving the Tribe a day/night double-header sweep.  It was the first double-header sweep of the White Sox since July 24th, 2009.  It was a tough day for the White Sox and have been a tough few weeks for Chicago.  They are 3-11 in their past 14 games where all but two of those losses have been decided less than three runs.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

In the game Cleveland Indians (17-11) starter Josh Tomlin threw 7 1/3 solid innings.  He allowed just two runs on five hits, walked only two and struck out eight.  Through the first five innings the White Sox had a baserunner in every inning but the third but were only able to score one run in that span against Tomlin.  That run came on a RBI ground out to short by Brent Morel with runners on 2nd and 3rd with no out in the 5th.  It gave the White Sox the 1-0 lead, however, the Indians came right back in the bottom of the frame to take the lead.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Chicago White Sox (13-17) spot starter Eric Stultz did well in his six innings of work.  He allowed just two runs on four hits, walking four, hitting one batter, and striking out four.  Despite a bit of wildness, he was effective in getting the ground-ball for a lot of outs.  With 2 outs in the 5th, he walked Lou Marson to extend the inning.  Marson then stole 2nd base and then came home on a ground ball to left field by Michael Brantley to tie the game at 1-1.  Brantley would got to second on the throw home which would set up the next run off the RBI single by Jason Kipnis to give Cleveland the 2-1 lead.

The game would remain that way till the top of the 8th where Chicago would tie the game.  With Josh Tomlin exiting the game with one out and two runners on base, Alex Rios would single on a ground ball to right field to tie the game at 2-2.  The White Sox had a huge chance to take the lead, but Adam Dunn would ground into a double play to end the inning.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Once again, the Indians would come right back to take the lead in the bottom frame.  Matt Thorton would allow an RBI double by Shelly Duncan to give the Tribe the 3-2 lead.  The rally began with a “duck-snort” single by Asdrubal Cabrera which was followed by a broken bat single by Carlos Santana that sent Cabrera to third.  It was a tough thing to see for the Sox and their fans.  Those type of hits make you mad and Matt Thorton seems to give up a lot of them because of how hard he throws.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

The White Sox did have a shot to rally in the 9th off Tony Sipp with two outs and Eduardo Escobar at first base who was pinch-running for Paul Konerko who drew the walk.  Tyler Flowers crushed the first pitch fastball down the left field line that was foul by a few feet.  I thought it was gone.  But that seems to be the story of the White Sox season thus far.  They come so close yet cannot get it done.  A few hits, a few feet, one more pitch or two and they could be 6 or 7 games better than what they are.  This team is fun to watch, they compete to the final at-bat.  However, on the flip side, when they lose, it can be REALLY frustrating.

Chicago is now five games behind Cleveland and two games behind Detroit in the AL Central.  They still have two more games with Cleveland in this series, so if they want to hang around in this division and not fall out of it by late May, these almost become must win games for the South Siders.  LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!

Yikes.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Lasting only 2 1/3 innings and giving up 8 runs on 9 hits, while walking two and striking out one is not good.  There is not much more to say about it.  I don’t even want to bother with the details.  It was just awful.  Taking no credit away from Cleveland today, Humber was off his game.  When he left the game the score was 7-2 and he was responsible for two runners on base.  Thankfully only one more run would score as Jose Quintana would walk two more batters in the inning, one of which would bring home a run.  That was the terrible part of the game.  Sadly, the White Sox played a good game outside of Humber’s bad two innings.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

They took a 1-0 lead thanks to a leadoff double by Alejandro De Aza, who then advanced to third on a wild pitch and would come home on a sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Brent Lillibridge.  Gordon Beckham would score from 3rd base on a throwing error by Carlos Santana who was trying to pick off De Aza who was stealing 2nd.  At that point the game was 3-2 Cleveland.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

After the disastrous bottom of the 3rd, the White Sox would score two more runs in the top of the 4th thanks to back-to-back hits by Alexei Ramirez and Kosuke Fukudome to cut the lead to at 8-4.  That is all the White Sox would muster off Cleveland starter Zach McAllister who would allow 4 runs (two earned) on six hits, walking one and striking out five in six innings.

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

The White Sox would get two more runs in the 9th, on a 2-run double by Alexei Ramirez with no out to cut the lead to 8-6.  This would bring the tying run to the plate but the White Sox would be set down quickly and the game would end.  They were given a chance to hang around thanks in large part to a phenomenal effort out of the bullpen by Jose Quintana.  After his two early walks, he retired the next nine batters he saw until giving up a two-out triple to Travis Hafner in the 6th.  That would be the only hit he would surrender on the day as he would retire the next seven batters he faced.  He pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowed one hit, two walks and struck out three batters.  It was pretty awesome.

The left-handed Quintana was making his MLB debut and looked great.  He was part of the 26-man roster exemption in double-header games, which is part of the new collective bargaining agreement.  Maybe he earned himself a roster spot.  Who knows.  Either way, he saved the bullpen for the remainder of the series which is huge.

Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs coined the phrase:  “Let’s play two.”  On Monday that is exactly what the White Sox and Indians will be doing in Cleveland.

Tomorrow the Chicago White Sox (13-15) and the Cleveland Indians (15-11) will square off in a day/night double-header.  The first game is at 1:05pm EDT and the second is set at 7:05pm EDT.  The first game is scheduled because of a rain out back on April 10th.  Philip Humber (1-1, 4.62 ERA) will start for Chicago and is just looking to rebound since throwing a perfect game on April 21st of this season.  For the Indians Zach McAllister will make his season debut.  He made four spot starts for the Indians last season going 0-1 with a 6.11 ERA.  He is expected to go back to AAA after the double-header.

In the 2nd game the White Sox will also be having a pitcher make his 2012 debut with the team in Eric Stultz.  He appeared in six games for the Colorado Rockies last season from the bullpen.  He posted a 6.00 ERA in 12 innings of work.  He began his career as a starter however for the Los Angles Dodgers where he started in 24 games.  Under the new collective bargaining agreement, teams are allowed to expand their rosters to 26 players for a double-header.  However, after today’s game, the White Sox sent Dylan Axelrod to AAA Charlotte.  So Stultz will have a shot to stay with the major league club as they are looking for a 5th starter.  The White Sox are also expected to give Jose Quintana a shot.  The 23-year old reportedly will be called up from AA Birmingham.  Stultz will be opposed by Josh Tomlin (1-2, 5.27 ERA).