The Chicago White Sox will play their first meaningful September home game in four seasons on Friday night as they continue their push for their first American League Central title since 2021.
Chicago (73-67) holds a three-game lead atop the American League Central with 22 games to go. They will try to build their division advantage when they welcome the Minnesota Twins (67-73) to open a three-game series.
The White Sox are looking to bounce back after dropping four of their past five games on the road. They lost 6-2 to the Houston Astros on Thursday afternoon to complete their seven-game road trip with a 3-4 record.
In the first series of the trip, the White Sox won two of three games against the Twins.
Chicago’s Tristan Peters will try to do his part against the Twins, who are six games off the division lead. Peters learned Thursday that he had been named American League Rookie of the Month for August after hitting .320 with six homers and 14 RBIs.
On the season, Peters is hitting .278 with 12 homers, 52 RBIs and eight stolen bases.
He was named to the AL All-Star team but struggled in July, batting just .218.
“It means a lot,” Peters said of the honor. “(I’m) getting back to sitting on my back side a little more, seeing the ball a little better. I think that helped a lot, just working with both hitting coaches.”
White Sox manager Will Venable praised Peters for his contributions as a rookie.
“The story of Tristan this year has been incredible,” Venable said. “He just continues to one-up himself, and the honors just continue to roll in here. I’m just so proud of him.”
Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews (9-8, 4.58 ERA) will look to frustrate Peters and his fellow White Sox hitters. Matthews is red hot after earning wins in all five of his August starts, and he has a 2.90 ERA, six walks and 24 strikeouts in 31 innings in that span.
His most recent win came Sunday against the White Sox. He retired the first 17 batters he faced and wound up giving up one run on five hits and no walks in 8 1/3 innings of a 5-1 win. He struck out five.
This will be Matthews’ fifth career start against the White Sox. He is 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA.
Chicago will counter with right-hander Erick Fedde (7-8, 4.16), who will go for back-to-back victories after topping the Twins 3-2 in Minneapolis last Saturday. He allowed two runs on three hits in five innings, and he walked two and struck out four.
Fedde has faced Minnesota six times in his career. He is 4-0 with a 1.36 ERA in those starts, and he has walked eight and struck out 31 in 33 innings during that time.
The Twins will play the series without All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton, who is on the injured list with an impingement in his right hip. Buxton said he will need surgery to correct the injury, but he will delay the procedure in hopes of helping a playoff run.
“I don’t want to put us in a bad spot, which I won’t, but if I can come back and do the things that I know I can do to help this team, then we’ll have that conversation when it comes,” Buxton said. “If it makes sense, I’ll hopefully be back. That’s the plan.”
Chicago is 41-27 at home this season. Minnesota is 29-39 on the road.
–Field Level Media
