Pregame notes: Winning a series!?!?

If the White Sox win the rubber match against the A's Sunday, it would mark their first series win and their first consecutive victories since winning the first two series at home against the Rockies at the end of June. The A's would also join the Tampa Bay Rays as the only team to play the Sox more than three times this year and not take the season series.

So, no pressure on Sean Burke in his first career major league start, since he at least got to get his feet wet against big league hitters already earlier this week.

"I didn’t think my stuff was that great [in my debut outing]," Burke said after pitching three innings on Tuesday. "I feel like I’ve had a lot better stuff down at Triple-A over the last month and a half. To have that experience with the stuff didn’t feel that great and still be able to get outs, it was really nice. When my stuff is on, I’m commanding the ball better. The slider is down in the zone, the curve ball is more in the zone. It’s just going to be a little bit easier to have success."

"It reminded me a little of Davis Martin when he first got called up, the moment didn't seem too big for him," said pitching coach Ethan Katz. "That's hard. Guys get up here and there's a lot of emotions, a lot of different things. He's carried himself very well."

Garrett Crochet's next start has been pushed to Friday in San Diego, leaving Wednesday's starter TBA for the finale in Anaheim. With the way Triple-A options keep getting placed on the IL for the rest of the year or moved to the bullpen, some sort of Jared Shuster-fronted bullpen game feels likely.

Sunday marks the 20th--and by MLB rules--last day of Yoán Moncada's rehab assignment. You certainly wouldn't claim the 29-year-old former No. 1 overall prospect can't handle Triple-A pitching: he's hit .342/.413/.537 in 12 games with the Charlotte Knights while rehabbing from an adductor strain.

But as a player without a future in the organization, whose presence would only exacerbate an already present logjam with Bryan Ramos and Miguel Vargas absorbing third base reps, the White Sox have seemed in no hurry to call him up. And even on Sunday, neither Grady Sizemore nor team officials had word on what the next step will be, and didn't anticipate an announcement postgame.

Andrew Benintendi got on base at a decent clip for most of last year, but playing through a sore wrist all season sapped his power and eventually his at-bat quality as he settled into a .262/.326/.356 season line, good for an 88 wRC+.

This season, he endured the worst first half of his life, slumping nearly every aspect and dealing with a sore Achilles. By his description, the highlight of his All-Star break was a ride on a pontoon boat, but he returned from it with a consistent loading action with his swing, and has ridden a power surge to post a .262/.330/.500 line in the second half.

In all, Benintendi is hitting .225/.287/.385 for the season, which in this year's run environment is good for an 88 wRC+.

Perfect balance.

First pitch: White Sox vs. Athletics

TV: NBCSCH

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