Pitchers: Blackburn vs Danks

6:30 start on TBS.

Sox win this game with relative ease. Similar score to today's affair.

I'm taking Pops as an early Bday present- Section 149 Row 6.

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Nick Blackburn, 11-10, 4.14 ERA, 1.37 WHIP
- On the road, Blackburn has a 5.20 ERA (2.96 at home).
- At night, Blackburn has a 4.64 ERA (2.95 during the day).
- On grass, Blackburn has a 4.86 ERA (3.46 on turf).
- Blackburn had a 6.75 ERA in September, and a 4.98 ERA after the All-star break.
- Blackburn vs the White Sox:
Home on September 24th: W, 3-2, 2 ER in 5 IP
Road on June 6th: L, 7 ER in 4 IP
Road on May 6th: L, 3 ER in 6 IP
Home on April 30th: W, 3 ER in 7 IP
Road on April 7th: L, 2 ER in 5 IP
- White Sox hitters vs. Cabrera:
O.Cabrera: .200 in 15 AB
J.Dye: .214, 1 HR in 14 AB
J.Thome: .333 in 12 AB
P.Konerko: .083 in 12 AB
A.J. Pierzynski: .500 in 10 AB
N.Swisher: .333 in 9 AB
J.Uribe: .444 in 9 AB
A.Ramirez: .750 in 4 AB
K.Griffey: .500, 1 HR in 2B

Right. Blackburn sucks. We had him on the ropes in Minnesota last week. Couldn't knock him out.

It's amazing to see that contrast from home/away and turf/grass.

I think it helps that we just saw Blackburn. This is his very next start.

On the other hand, Twins didn't face Danks last series.

I also thought it was huge that the Sox didn't need to use Jenks today. Now we can use him for 5 or 6 outs tomorrow if we need that.

Thornton should also be pretty fresh considering he threw about 5 pitches today.

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Amen, brother!!!

Ehhh, not so much. They should not be putting him in the game in the 8th inning, even if the score is 5-5. He's not used to it, and his fragile mindset may not be able to cope with that situation. I'd rather send a starter in on three/four days rest to pitch two thirds of an inning if it comes to that.

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

Sox -145

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Sox sold out this game one hour after the end of the Tiger game.

Thats pretty cool. 1 hour? Wow. Best of luck tomorrow. the pitching match-up seems favorable. I hope we have 2 Chicago teams to root for this post season. The road they have taken to get to this point has been unusual, to say the least. But should they beat the Twins tomorrow, you never know what strange twists might lay ahead. I'm especially glad for Beardown's sake, that they remain alive in the playoff hunt. Fans with his kind of passion, deserve to be rewarded.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Even bigger was Linebrink striking out 3 in 1 inning of work. If the Sox can return to Thornton/Dotel 7th, Linebrink 8th and Jenks 9th, with confidence, they will win at least one playoff series.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I am a big fan of getting back into that Dotel/7th, Linebrink/8th, Jenks/9th routine. I know that it has not seemed a viable option given the performance of Dotel and Linebrink over the past few weeks. However, I attribute some of that to having their roles so undefinded after the Linebrink and Jenks injuries. For some reason, these guys seem very comfortable in those defined roles and pitch better that way.

Baseball Prospectus has the Sox winning this game 56.7% of the time.

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And it doesn't help that Danks is coming off his worst start of the season, allowing seven runs and seven hits in four innings as Chicago lost 11-8 to Cleveland on Friday night. The 23-year-old left-hander went 1-0 with a 0.98 ERA in his previous three starts.

Twins catcher Joe Mauer and first baseman Justin Morneau have been particularly successful against Danks, going 8-for-12 (.667) and 7-for-16 (.438), respectively.

He is 1-2 with a 7.45 ERA in four starts versus the Twins at Chicago, and 2-3 with a 6.88 ERA in seven starts overall.

per espn.

But with that said, sox will score at least 10 runs tonight to clinch it.

Hopefully Bossard does what he can to make the field set up to go against the Twins style.

Love the fact that the Sox are requesting everyone to wear black tonite. Appropriate color for a funeral; the White Sox funeral around 9:30 tonite.

Ya know, I'm kind of glad Hawk isn't doing the game tonight. I like him but he makes me more nervous than I already am in these type of games.

Who's doing the game for TBS? Good ole Chip? We'll probably get the same team that's doing the Cubs game tomorrow since they have to be in town any way.

I was thinking the same thing yesterday when I heard that announced. I don't like it. I'd prefer the fans wear white. Wearing black seems like a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. I don't believe in jinxes but I'm very nervous.

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

I don't like this dress up shit at all. What is this? Highschool? Whatever.

But wearing black is better than white. 40k white people dressed in white looks like a KKK rally. We've seen that with the Miami Heat during their playoff games.

I think it's supposed to be intimidating for the visiting team. I'm not sure how much of an effect it has though.

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

On the call tonight for TBS is Dick Stockton, Ron Darling and Harold Reynolds.

They called for black for 40,000 people wearing white would be it harder to see the ball.

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It's harmless. It's the Sox marketing people. They made Hawk hold up a T-shirt and announce it. They'll be selling those t-shirts at the game. It's stupid but who cares?

I dunno. I'm wearing a black Sox hoodie regardless of what they call for because its gonna be a tad cool tonite.

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I ACTUALLY WATCHED THE SOX LAST NIGHT. I am on record with this board as not acknowledging the Sox existance, and I had never watched a Sox game in entirety before. First off, the blackout idea is garbage. Anything other than black would have been good. That's just a bad omen. Secondly, all the people that criticize Hawk...Bernsie is right, the guy is senile. He makes no sense inning to inning. I put up with Ronnie, but he's on the radio. I have no idea how sox fans put up with such a buffoon on their TV. Maybe he's not that way normally, but he sounded like he was broadcasting from a retirement home. To top it off, he does his own color commentary half the time. Third, Sox, I hope you have success, and the Rays are the best matchup you could ask for, as they have the least amount of playoff experience.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Make that the first and last Sox game you watch.

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Who are you kidding Beardown. Your'e a long tailed cat in a room full of rockin chairs every game anyway. Good luck tonight....

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Go Cubs!!!!

Just to let you guys know, the HD feed for TBS, for Comcast Cable, is 219. Don't know what it is for Direct TV.

Where the fuck do you come up with these?

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I know. But Hawk makes it worse on me.

I like Hawk for most of the year. Not when it comes down to "must win games".