MLB on Sling TV: White Sox at Cubs on ESPN; Regional Action on Fox Sports Networks
(All times Eastern, starters subject to change)
White Sox (Ranaudo 1-0, 17.18) at Chicago Cubs (Hammel 9-5, 3.35)
8pm ET on ESPN
In his last game, while still with the Rangers, on May 10, Anthony Ranaudo joined an exclusive group of pitchers – including Sandy Koufax, Mark “The Bird” Fidrych, Mitch Williams and Dontrelle Willis – by becoming just the 9th man in MLB history to give up 5 earned runs on 5+ walks and 0 hits. The appearance started well enough, as he came in to face the White Sox with men on second and third, just 1 out and 4 runs already across the dish, as he promptly retired the next two batters to stop the bleeding. In the 4th, however, he went flyout, walk, walk, flyout, walk, walk, walk, before giving way to Alex Claudio, who promptly served up a bases-clearing double, with all runs charged to Ranaudo. Thanks in part to that disastrous outing, Ranaudo is now 3rd in innings among active pitchers who have more walks than strikeouts. Incredibly, just two days after watching Ranaudo’s meltdown, the White Sox traded for him.
Other than a disastrous outing against the Mets, in which the 10 earned runs he gave up represent a quarter of his season’s total, Jason Hammel has been great this year. Throw out that start and he’s got a 2.61 ERA in 103 ⅓ innings. But he’s clearly bucking the odds this year as his BABIP is more than 50 points below his career mark, and his FIP (fielding independent Pitching), which estimates what you’re ERA should be based on your home runs, walks and strikeouts, is a more than a run higher than his actual ERA. On a side note, if you’re looking for a guy to root for, Hammels was recently told by his doctor to eat more potato chips.
Last night the White Sox blanked the Cubs 3-0 thanks to 7 2/3 shutout innings from James Shields. The ChiSox are now 50-50, and in 3rd place, 8 games behind the Indians in the AL Central, while the Cubbies fell to 59-40, but remain atop the NL Central with a 6 ½ game lead.
Watch the Chicago White Sox vs. the Chicago Cubs at 8pm ET on ESPN by subscribing to Sling Orange..
Here’s the baseball available on FOX Sports Regional Networks across the land for Sling Blue subscribers:
Washington Nationals (Strasburg 13-1, 2.83) at Cleveland Indians (Carrasco 7-3, 2.31)
12:10pm ET on SportsTime Ohio
Philadelphia Phillies (Eflin 3-3, 3.40) at Miami Marlins (Conley 6-5, 3.58)
12:10pm ET on FOX Sports Florida
San Diego Padres (Perdomo 4-4, 6.93) at Toronto Blue Jays (Dickey 7-11, 4.44)
12:37pm ET on FOX Sports San Diego
Detroit Tigers (Fulmer 9-2, 2.41) at Boston Red Sox (Rodriguez 2-4, 6.70)
1:35pm ET on FOX Sports Detroit
Tampa Bay Rays (Moore 6-7, 4.31) at Los Angeles Dodgers (McCarthy 2-0, 1.61)
3:10pm ET on Fox Sports Sun
Cincinnati Reds (Straily 5-6, 4.01) at San Francisco Giants (Bumgarner 10-5, 2.14)
3:45pm ET on FOX Sports Cincinnati
St. Louis Cardinals (Wainwright 9-5, 4.09) at New York Mets (Verrett 3-6, 4.14)
7:10pm ET on FOX Sports Midwest
Oakland Athletics (Manaea 3-5, 4.61) at Texas Rangers (Darvish 2-2, 3.12)
8:05pm ET on FOX Sports Southwest
Arizona Diamondbacks (Bradley 3-6, 4.44) at Milwaukee Brewers (Nelson 6-8, 3.40)
8:10pm ET on FOX Sports Arizona & FOX Sports Wisconsin
Atlanta Braves (Foltynewicz 3-4, 3.79) at Minnesota Twins (Duffey 5-7, 5.71)
8:10pm ET on FOX Sports North & FOX Sports Southeast
New York Yankees (Tanaka 7-2, 3.00) at Houston Astros (McCullers 5-4, 3.33)
8:10pm ET on YES
Los Angeles Angels (Shoemaker 5-10, 3.99) at Kansas City Royals (Duffy 6-1, 3.14)
8:15pm ET on FOX Sports Kansas City & FOX Sports West
Watch baseball on FOX and FOX Sports Regional Networks by subscribing to the Sling Blue.
All stats courtesy ESPN and Baseball Reference.