Rangers at White Sox
Willie Calhoun's major-league career has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride over parts of three seasons so far, but it appears he is starting to put it together in the heart of the Texas Rangers' batting order. The 24-year-old sets his sights on going deep for a third straight day when the Rangers attempt to salvage a split of their four-game series against the host Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
Calhoun has been shuttled between the majors and minors several times since arriving from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the trade for Yu Darvish in 2017 and only was brought back late last month to replace an injured Joey Gallo. He capably has filled that void and then some, batting .307 with 10 homers and 21 RBIs in 27 games since July 25 after going 2-for-4 in Saturday's 4-0 victory that halted a stretch during which the Rangers dropped 12 of 14 at Guaranteed Rate Field. The White Sox's brief pitching-fueled resurgence also came to an end Saturday as it allowed nine hits after giving up a total of 10 during the club's three-game winning streak. Jose Abreu registered two of the Chicago's eight singles in the loss to push him past 1,000 career hits.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Texas), NBCS Chicago
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers LH Brock Burke (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. White Sox RH Reynaldo Lopez (7-11, 5.25)
Burke was in position to win his major-league debut in the nightcap of Tuesday's doubleheader after tossing six scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Angels before the bullpen squandered a two-run lead in the eighth. The native of Chicago made four minor-league stops this season prior to that effort, most recently posting a 7.88 ERA in two starts with Triple-A Nashville. Burke will face the White Sox for the first time after allowing Angels right-handed hitters to go 2-for-16.
Lopez has been roughed up in his last two road outings, getting tagged for five runs over 5 1/3 innings on the road against the Angels on Aug. 15 and seven - three earned - in six frames at Minnesota on Tuesday. Despite the back-to-back losses, the 25-year-old is 3-3 with a 3.10 ERA in eight starts since the All-Star break after going 4-8 with a 6.34 mark in the first half of the season. Rougned Odor is 4-for-9 with a home run versus Lopez, who settled for a no-decision after permitting three runs over 5 1/3 innings in Texas on June 21.
WALK-OFFS
1. Calhoun has recorded seven multi-hit performances over his last 11 games.
2. Abreu is batting .377 with seven doubles, five homers and 21 RBIs over his last 20 contests.
3. Chicago SS Tim Anderson finished 1-for-4 on Saturday to extend his hitting streak to 11 games - a stretch during which he is batting .438 with eight multi-hit efforts.