ALDS Game 4: White Sox-Astros Preview and First Pitch

We thought Carlos Rodón's career came down to his ill-fated relief appearance in Game 3 of the Wild Card series last year.

But maybe it's all come down to this instead?

Then again, if Rodón can redeem himself after the previous October, he'd be one game away from having another start in store.

However it happens, Rodón seems like the right guy to have on the mound for an elimination game. He's a big reason why the White Sox won the AL Central as easily as they did, so it's hard to imagine them advancing into October with zero contributions from him. He could also be the wrong guy if he struggling to keep his fastball vibrant, but he's the best of a whole bunch of imperfect choices, assuming he can maintain his recent condition at the very least.

The good news is that Monday's rainout replenished the White Sox bullpen after the group's heroic effort in Game 3. If Rodón can throw three decent innings, Tony La Russa can stitch together the final two-thirds of the game with his five most trustworthy relievers, as well as Lance Lynn for an inning. There's always the chance that one of those guys doesn't have it, but at least everybody should be OK with a given decision (at least the ones that don't involve Craig Kimbrel).

On the other side, every Houston partisan should feel great about sending Lance McCullers Jr. to the mound on full rest for Game 4. He dominated the White Sox in Game 1 like he shut them down in the regular season, and there's no particular reason to think it should go terribly differently. His strengths slot right into the White Sox's weaknesses, making damage hard to come by.

The solace is that the White Sox would have to beat him -- or outlast him -- in one of the final two games anyway, and maybe home field can tilt something in their favor.

La Russa isn't leaving it all to fate. He's made one tweak in the lineup that would ordinarily minor, except it's always news when José Abreu isn't batting third. La Russa moved him down, putting Tim Anderson, Yoán Moncada and Luis Robert in top three spots. The goal is to frontload the lineup with the guys having the most consistently formidable at-bats. They also possess the kind of speed that makes extra bases easier to come by, and double plays harder to turn. Another byproduct is moving Eloy Jiménez down to the sixth spot, which is probably a good idea against McCullers. Every little bit helps.

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First Pitch

Time: 1:07 p.m. CT

TV: Fox Sports 1

Lineups: