Some pre-match reading. Courtesy of Louise Taylor in Brussels. Share Newcastle make two changes to the starting XI sent out to face Arsenal in the 2-1 Premier League defeat at St James' Park last Sunday. Kieran Trippier and Anthony Elanga replace Tino Livramento and Jacob Murphy. The latter drops to the bench, but Livramento could be out for six to eight weeks after suffering a knee injury against the Gunners.
One day after a breakout performance at the plate for Nacho, he'll take a sit due to a minor cut on his hand, as Vidal Brujan takes his place at third base. Drake Baldwin gets the start at catcher after getting a day at DH on Saturday, which also brings Marcell Ozuna back into the lineup at DH. Meanwhile the Tigers go for a fairly different lineup than yesterday, going from facing a lefty in Joey Wentz, to facing a righty in Spencer Strider today.
Right-handed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-8, 2.72 ERA) is starting for LA, coming off his 8.2 no-hit innings against the Baltimore Orioles in his most recent start before giving up a Jackson Holliday home run in the ninth inning. Opposite Yamamoto will be right-hander Justin Verlander (3-10, 4.09 ERA), who's pitched back-to-back scoreless starts, throwing a total of 11 innings with 16 strikeouts and just six hits allowed.
Time to change everything again, given the presence of Ha-Seong Kim and Jurickson Profar's status on the paternity list: Not too much to say in general here, other than Eli White hitting ahead of Sean Murphy is today's source of mirth, and at least Ronald Acuña Jr. is temporarily (?) freed from the abattoir of hitting third. It's certainly a new lineup and defensive arrangement given Kim's presence.
While not quite the offensive fireworks of the first two games of the series, yesterday's 5-3 extra-innings win was nonetheless just as impressive as the first pair of wins. The bullpen outside of Devin Williams was lights out to keep giving the offense a chance to win it, something they finally did with a string of clutch ABs in the 11th inning. Today, they look to keep the pressure on the Blue Jays ( currently just two games ahead) and complete the four-game sweep of Chicago to win their eighth in a row.
Welcome to a rematch of the 1972 FA Cup final, which Leeds United won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Sniffer Clarke. Leeds fans are advised to keep thinking about that, because more up-to-date data very much does not skew in their favour. In the last 20 years, these two clubs have met 11 times. Arsenal have won nine of the matches, scoring four goals on three separate occasions and 23 overall. Leeds have won none, scoring just seven goals in total.
The White Sox made a late lineup change ahead of Sunday's Crosstown Series finale, replacing Austin Slater with Luis Robert Jr. as designated hitter due to adductor soreness.
