Series Preview: Seattle Mariners @ Chicago White Sox

Seattle: 46-77
White Sox: 70-53

GAMES

Game 1: Jarrod Washburn* vs Mark Buehrle*
Game 2: Felix Hernandez vs Unknown
Game 3: R.A. Dickey? vs Gavin Floyd

Buehrle has recovered his career after a really poor 2006 campaign that saw his home runs allowed skyrocket and his strikeouts fall off. His underlying pitch results didn't change much that year though so it's not a huge surprise that it turned out to be more of a fluke than a new talent level.

Gavin Floyd throws a lot of balls, generates a lot of fly balls and doesn't keep those fly balls in the park very well. But he has a .242 BABIP right now so you're going to hear a lot about his "turnaround". People are ignorant.

Likely Starters:
C A.J. Pierzynski*
1 Paul Konerko
2 Alexei Ramirez
3 Juan Uribe
S Orlando Cabrera
L Carlos Quentin
C Ken Griffey Jr*/Nick Swisher^
R Jermaine Dye
D Jim Thome*

Not many lefties, this could be a lineup that Felix is able to dominate if he shows up as good Felix.

The White Sox need a starter badly. The Yankees are contemplating calling up Carl Pavano of all people, the Cardinals could use someone as well and even the Dodgers might be sniffing around. Jarrod Washburn needs a new home and he needs it now before these teams have the offseason to both get their current pitchers healthy and to shop for better and sometimes cheaper alternatives.

CONTEXT

Once again I don't have much to say this time not because of time constraints but because I blissfully didn't watch a second of this past series with Minnesota. We got swept which is good for us and good for Minnesota as wins for them (and Chicago) help make a Boston-less postseason possible. Both teams are just a half game behind Boston as it stands. Do you realize what that means? This isn't some incredulous dream. Let's go get swept again!

THIS SERIES BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

St. Bernardus Abt 12
St. Bernard Brewery. Watou, BE

If I had any foresight, I would have saved the Goose Island beer until this series, but it slipped my mind that the Ms were heading to Chicago right after I was leaving it so oh well. It sure was tasty. So instead, perhaps my favorite Belgian beer.