Listen Live: Orioles Vs White Sox [Live Audio] MLB
Where: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
Left-hander Chris Sale has been instrumental in the Chicago White Sox's fast start to the season and will go for his major league-leading sixth victory in the finale of a four-game series at Baltimore on Sunday. The White Sox outlasted Baltimore 8-7 on Saturday night after dropping the first two games of the series.
Sale has allowed one earned run over 24 innings spanning his last three starts, helping Chicago tie a franchise record with 17 wins in the month of April. Jose Abreu delivered the game-winning RBI single in the ninth inning Saturday and is 9-for-22 during a five-game hitting streak. The Orioles fell to 10-1 when leading after seven innings and suffered a double whammy when closer Zach Britton sprained his left ankle and limped off the field with two outs in the ninth after attempting to field a swinging bunt. Ubaldo Jimenez starts the series finale for Baltimore, which lost for only the second time in 11 home games.
PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox LH Chris Sale (5-0, 1.66 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Ubaldo Jimenez (1-2, 3.91)
Sale has pitched at least seven innings in all five of his starts, remaining perfect with another dominant performance last time out by limiting Toronto's powerful lineup to one run and four hits over eight frames. Sale did not permit an earned run in each of his previous two turns, picking up a pair of wins despite Chicago scoring a total of three runs. He blanked the Orioles for 7 2/3 innings last year but is 1-2 with a 3.72 ERA against them.
Jimenez has regressed following an outstanding season debut in which he struck out nine, did not walk a batter and permitted one earned run over seven innings to beat the Minnesota Twins. He has battled control issues during a winless three-start stretch, walking 11 over 16 innings, and has received only six runs of support during that span. Brett Lawrie is 4-for-11 with a homer off Jimenez, who owns a 3-4 mark and 4.17 ERA in 12 starts versus Chicago.
WALK-OFFS
1. White Sox DH Avisail Garcia, who is 7-for-13 versus Jimenez, is expected to miss his second straight game with a hamstring injury.
2. While Britton is listed as day-to-day, Orioles RHP Darren O'Day had a streak of 10 scoreless appearances halted Saturday.
3. White Sox closer David Robertson is expected back Sunday after missing the previous three games while on bereavement leave.
PREDICTION: White Sox 5, Orioles 4
