Good news for the blackout enthusiasts among us: White Sox fans are going to get a night start for Game 3 when they plan on darkening the doors of Guaranteed Rate Field.
Major League Baseball released the schedule for the necessary games of the ALCS, and the dates and times are as follows (all times Central):
Game 1: Thursday, 3:07 p.m. on Fox Sports 1
Game 2: Friday, 1:07 p.m. on MLB Network
Game 3: Sunday, 7:07 p.m. on Fox Sports 1
Game 4 will take place the following Monday, with Game 5 on Wednesday in Houston if necessary.
That answers the when and where. As for who, Rick Hahn said that teams have until 10 a.m. on Thursday to submit rosters, and in classic White Sox fashion, they won't share it until they have to. Regarding the other decisions -- Game 1 starter, how much Carlos Rodón, etc. -- he left both up in the air. The way he outlined the thought process echoes the way I laid out the rotation, in that the Game 1 starter might end up being the guy they'd feel best about pitching twice.
Perhaps the biggest specific news is that the illness that kept José Abreu out of the lineup on the final day of the season was not COVID-19, so Hahn could afford to joke about it.
“Pito is not going to get hit for these three days,” said a smiling Hahn, referring to Abreu being hit 22 times by pitches this season. “So that’s a positive.”
