Pregame notes: technically these are mid-game notes

Garrett Crochet and Grady Sizemore both said they were told that rain wasn't supposed to arrive at Guaranteed Rate Field on Tuesday night until after 8pm, likely 8:30pm. Because of which, Crochet assumed his night of work would be done by then, and was placidly completing his warm-up tosses in the bullpen as extremely large and very dark clouds were closing in on the stadium.

"When I was going out there to start warming up, it was just a drizzle and I was like, ‘Ok, we can play through this.’" Crochet said. "The last pitch that I threw, I didn’t have a good grip on it. And like, throwing in the rain is one of those things I secretly enjoy. I’m like, ‘The hitters must be miserable right now.’ But then when I didn’t have a grip on that last pitch, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m kind of miserable right now.’"

With the White Sox already restricting Crochet's innings whenever possible, they are just acting like he made his start and will use him again in five days.

"A couple guys joked, because typically Day 1 [after a start] is like a massage and soft-tissue work, and they were like, ‘You better not get a massage.’ But I’m getting one," Crochet said.

In addition to his massage, Crochet sounded adamant about continuing to pitch every five days through the very end of the season, despite some assorted chatter about a shutdown coming soon.

"In the conversations I’ve had with Chris [Getz] and the rest of the staff, it’s been [about] undergoing a typical starter’s workload in terms of getting through the entire year. I think that pitching in September is huge, just for the mindset of having truly pitched through the whole season. Since the All-Star break, in terms of workload, it’s dwindled down, but at the same time, I’m still going every fifth day. And I think that going every fifth day for the duration of the entire year, it’s huge.”

At 128 2/3 innings for the season, Crochet has already exceeded the team's expectations in terms of both performance and stamina. But Crochet's personal goal was more in the territory of 150 innings, and he feels like he should be able to hit it.

"I want him out there, I think he gives us a great chance every night he goes out there," said Sizemore said. "I definitely want him to pitch and I think it would be good for him, too, if he could get through the whole season and finish throwing on normal five-day rest. But we also want what’s best for him and want him to stay healthy. If it gets to that point where it’s the last week, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw something like that, like him missing another start. For now, we’re just going about like he’s going every five days."

Crochet can't take the loss no matter what on Wednesday because he left with an even 2-2 count. Where as if the game had been halted on a 2-1 count and finished with a walk, and that runner had scored on Chris Flexen, he would be on the hook. It doesn't feel like a big leap to say that would have been a very plausible scenario.

While Flexen won't extend his streak of 19-straight winless starts, the White Sox are 2-25 in games in which he appears, and both those victories came against the Rays. They are not playing the Rays on Wednesday, in case you were wondering.

Jack Leiter is the Rangers starter for Game 2 of the doubleheader. The White Sox are going with a bullpen game. For some reason, the White Sox insist it's not a given that Matt Foster is the 27th man for the second game, but Matt Foster is here in Chicago.

Fifth pitch: White Sox vs. Rangers

TV: NBCSCH

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