White Sox look to tee off on Hernandez, Mariners

With two weeks left in the season, the Chicago White Sox are in position to take two legs of the American League's Triple Crown.

Shortstop Tim Anderson leads all of baseball with a .334 batting average and first baseman Jose Abreu leads the AL with 116 RBIs, one behind Atlanta's Freddie Freeman and Washington's Anthony Rendon for the major league lead.

Not bad for a team that's 65-82.

Both Anderson and Abreu made contributions as the White Sox defeated the host Seattle Mariners 9-7 Friday night in the opener of a three-game series.

Anderson went 2-for-5 with a double, a run and an RBI. Abreu hit his 33rd homer of the season in the top of the first inning and scored twice.

"We did get a lot of production from the guys at the top (of the lineup). Big night for those guys," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "It was a team effort."

As for Abreu's homer?

"That was a great at-bat. He's seeing the ball very well. He's been one of our big guys all season long," Renteria said. "If you look at his numbers, he's tops amongst the league, I'm sure, with RBIs. ... He's a big piece of who we are, and we're really happy that he's here with us."

Add Yoan Moncada's 3-for-5 night with a double, a triple and four RBIs, and it's not hard to see why the White Sox excelled offensively.

With Felix Hernandez (1-6, 6.96 ERA) taking the mound for the Mariners (60-88) on Saturday, the White Sox will look to tee off again.

King Felix, the longtime Mariners ace, is 0-2 with an 8.04 ERA in four starts since returning from a three-month long stint on the injured list with shoulder issues.

In his last start, Hernandez gave up 11 runs (seven earned) on seven hits with two walks and a hit batter in just two-plus innings of a 21-1 loss at Houston, the worst defeat in franchise history in terms of score margin.

"It's been a strain these last two starts. Just grinding and grinding," Hernandez told MLB.com. "I just have to keep doing my thing, and we'll see what's going to happen next. (The remaining starts are) very important. It means a lot for me to go out and compete the way I can compete, every five days."

Hernandez is 7-7 with a 3.82 ERA in 21 career starts against the White Sox.

The White Sox will counter with right-hander Dylan Cease (3-7, 6.53 ERA). Cease allowed only one run over 3 1/3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels his last time out but was undone by five walks.

"I prefer not to throw so many balls and put guys on bases. At the end of the day, as long as I keep fighting, I usually get through it," Cease said. "It was more of a battle (Sunday). I think I went through a stretch where I had a feel for (my pitches), but definitely not good enough with my fastball command."

The rookie will be facing the Mariners for the first time.

--Field Level Media