The first time Logan Gilbert faced the Chicago White Sox, the Seattle Mariners’ rookie right-hander cruised through two scoreless innings last June 26 before play was suspended because of inclement weather.
He’ll get another chance Thursday afternoon, weather permitting, when the Mariners and White Sox are scheduled to wrap up a three-game series in Chicago. The hosts will attempt to complete a sweep.
The teams’ Wednesday night game was delayed by 47 minutes at the outset. The White Sox then scored four runs during a second-inning outburst against reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray and held on to defeat the Mariners 6-4.
“The Lake (Michigan) gods were kind to us a little bit,” said White Sox left-hander Dallas Keuchel, who posted his 100th career victory. “It rained on Robbie and it sprinkled on me.”
Eloy Jimenez, Tim Anderson and Luis Robert homered off Ray as the White Sox won their fourth game in a row to improve to 4-1 for the first time since 2005 — the year they won the World Series. Seattle took its fourth consecutive defeat.
“The offense had a ton of respect for who we were facing,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “They came out there just trying to compete. You could tell (Ray) threw the ball better as the day went on. He’s a top-notch pitcher, but I gotta give our offense credit considering the conditions and everything. We came ready to compete.”
Gilbert (0-0, 1.80 ERA) pitched five effective innings in a no-decision on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins. The 2018 first-round pick allowed one run on three hits and one walk while striking out seven.
He needed 52 pitches to get through the first two innings, then just 33 more to retire the last nine hitters he faced.
“I felt like I was flying open a little bit and from there I was just working glove-side,” he said. “I actually sped up my delivery a little bit and I think that helped clean everything up.”
Gilbert also started using his curveball and changeup more after relying on his fastball and slider early on.
“I should have went to them earlier for some reason,” Gilbert said. “I didn’t probably just based on the scouting report we had on them, but those pitches feel as good as anything else right now, so I’ll try to keep working those in earlier.”
The White Sox are set to counter with right-hander Jimmy Lambert, who will be making his first appearance of the season and just his fourth major league start.
Lambert was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday when Opening Day starter Lucas Giolito was placed on the 10-day injured list due to an abdominal strain.
“I’m not necessarily expecting him to get us deep into the game, but he’s certainly someone who can open for us and give us quality innings up front,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said of Lambert.
The White Sox might be without Jimenez. After homering in his first at-bat Wednesday, he fouled a pitch off his left ankle his next time up and was replaced by pinch hitter Leury Garcia in the fifth inning. Postgame X-rays revealed only a bruise, leaving Jimenez day-to-day.
–Field Level Media