White Sox at Indians
Rookie Oscar Mercado collected an RBI single among his three hits in his last outing, but his sterling defensive play was the talk of the town and prevented what could have been a demoralizing loss to the Chicago White Sox. Fueled by Mercado's heroics, the Indians look to capture their third win of the four-game series on Thursday afternoon when they conclude the set in Cleveland.
Mercado's diving catch on Eloy Jimenez's line drive to center field with the bases loaded in the ninth inning allowed the Indians to hold on for an 8-6 victory. Franmil Reyes belted a two-run shot on Wednesday and enters the series finale on a hot streak, batting 22-for-69 with seven homers and 19 RBIs over his last 21 games. Cleveland rookie right-hander Zach Plesac will look to improve upon his 5-1 mark and 3.09 ERA at home this season when he takes the mound against a Chicago club that has lost eight of its last nine games. Jimenez has six multi-hit performances in his last seven contests, batting 14-for-30 with four extra-base hits and six runs scored over that stretch.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, NBCS Chicago, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox RH Reynaldo Lopez (8-12, 5.41 ERA) vs. Indians RH Zach Plesac (7-5, 3.61)
Lopez plummeted to 1-3 in his last four starts on Saturday after getting blitzed for six runs on as many hits in two-thirds of an inning in an 11-5 setback at Atlanta. The 25-year-old aims to get back on track when he faces Cleveland, against which he improved to 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in five career starts after permitting one earned run on two hits in 7 2/3 frames of a 5-2 win on May 13. Jason Kipnis (0-for-8) and Francisco Lindor (2-for-10) have each struggled versus Lopez.
Plesac surrendered multiple homers and four earned runs for the second time in three outings on Saturday in a 9-6 setback at Tampa Bay. The 24-year-old rookie was taken deep three times in a 6-5 loss at the New York Yankees on Aug. 17 before allowing two homers in the defeat to the Rays. Plesac was saddled with the loss despite turning in one of the best starts of his rookie season against the White Sox, permitting one run on four hits in seven innings of a 2-0 setback on June 2.
WALK-OFFS
1. Chicago SS Tim Anderson is 33-for-88 with three homers and 10 RBIs in his last 20 games.
2. Cleveland 3B Yu Chang had a two-run single on Wednesday to highlight his third multi-hit performance in eight starts since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Aug. 25.
3. White Sox RF Daniel Palka went 0-for-4 on Wednesday to see his season average fall to .019 (1-for-53).