White Sox at Cubs
The battle of Chicago goes head-to-head this week when the Cubs host the White Sox on Tuesday in the opener of a two-game interleague series. The White Sox are trying to get to where their crosstown rivals are - vying for postseason spot - and are pushing along in their rebuild.
The White Sox split a four-game series with the New York Yankees over the weekend - dropping the last two - and ended up winning the season series against the American League East leaders. "We split this series and we took the series from them at their place," White Sox catcher James McCann told reporters. "We took the season series from a team that is one of the best in baseball. It's not the way we wanted to finish (Sunday), but overall you have to be happy with taking a season series from a team like that." The Cubs, who took four of six from the White Sox last season, are one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central and are coming off a tough series in Los Angeles, where they dropped three of four to the Dodgers and left the tying run on third base to end Sunday's 3-2 setback. The Cubs will try to bounce back behind veteran left-hander Cole Hamels while the White Sox counter with righty Ivan Nova.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, WGN (Cubs), NBCS Chicago (White Sox)
PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox RH Ivan Nova (3-5, 6.28 ERA) vs. Cubs LH Cole Hamels (6-2, 2.98)
Nova is winless in his last four starts and was reached for four runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings without factoring in the decision against the Yankees on Thursday. The Dominican Republic native was knocked out in the sixth inning in each of his last two turns and failed to complete six in three of the last four. Nova is familiar with the Cubs from his time with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Central and went 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in four starts against them last season.
Hamels is on fire of late and did not allow an earned run in any of his last three starts, surrendering a total of 11 hits over 22 innings. The 35-year-old struck out nine and walked one while scattering six hits over seven frames in a win at Colorado on Wednesday. Hamels started against the White Sox as a member of the Texas Rangers last season and was ripped for seven runs and nine hits in five innings to absorb a loss.
WALK-OFFS
1. White Sox 3B Yoan Moncada (back tightness) left Sunday's game after missing the previous four contests with a similar injury and is day-to-day.
2. Cubs INF Addison Russell is 3-for-28 with 10 strikeouts over his last 10 games.
3. The White Sox are reportedly set to call up C Zack Collins, who was the team's top draft pick in 2016.