After a lost weekend for both teams, the Chicago White Sox and visiting Baltimore Orioles look to regroup when they begin a three-game series on Monday.
Chicago (57-93) lost three straight to the host Cleveland Guardians over the weekend, while Baltimore (69-80) was swept in three games by the host Toronto Blue Jays.
One bright spot for the Orioles was the play of first baseman Coby Mayo, who hit his second home run in as many games during an 11-2 loss to the Blue Jays on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Mayo enters Monday’s play batting .193 with nine homers and 24 RBIs. Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino is hoping the young slugger can build on his success from the weekend.
“It’s a good couple days right there,” Mansolino said. “I just think with young players, there’s going to be some ups and some downs, and Coby’s gone through both sides of it a little bit. The last couple days, he’s trending up a little bit … a couple nice things right there, promising, exciting.”
The White Sox have been similarly encouraged by the play of infielders Chase Meidroth and Lenyn Sosa.
Meidroth extended his hitting streak to 10 games and hit his fifth homer of the season in a 3-2 loss to Cleveland on Sunday. Meidroth is batting .471 (16-for-34) during his streak.
Chicago manager Will Venable has also been impressed by Sosa, who has set career highs in every offensive category and leads the team in RBI (68) and home runs (20).
“He’s just consistently been a guy that has a dangerous bat,” Venable said. “Now he’s really calculated, and when he wants to let it go early in the count, he’s seeing some good pitches, getting his timing right and having some good results.”
The pitching matchup for the series opener features a pair of right-handers as Baltimore’s Kyle Bradish (0-1, 2.65 ERA) faces Chicago’s Sean Burke (4-10, 4.35).
Bradish, 29, has completed six innings in two of his three starts since returning from Tommy John surgery. He allowed four hits and one run over seven innings with two walks and six strikeouts in a no-decision against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates last Tuesday.
“Getting through seven is always good for everybody — team, bullpen, myself,” Bradish said. “But yeah, just knowing I can be efficient like I was and get through seven and give the team a quality start, that’s always the goal.”
Bradish is set to make his second career start against the White Sox after tossing seven no-hit innings with 11 strikeouts in a 4-1 victory on May 26, 2024.
Burke, 25, was recalled after making three starts for Triple-A Charlotte and allowed three runs across 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision at home against the Tampa Bay Rays last Wednesday.
“I really liked where all my stuff was at,” Burke said. “Having the two or three weeks to kind of focus on getting back and (the) feel with everything was nice. Now that I’m in a good spot with that, it’s about continuing to get ahead of guys and do everything I can to get guys out here.”
Burke is making his first career start against Baltimore. He followed the opener and allowed two runs over six innings in a 2-1 loss to the host Orioles on May 30.
Baltimore leads the season series, 3-0, after sweeping the White Sox at Camden Yards from May 30-June 1.
–Field Level Media
