Rebuilding clubs that find themselves well out of postseason contention at this point of the year are always looking for future hope to hang their hats on. For the White Sox, Reynaldo López has certainly been providing that with the way he is wrapping up his first full season in the bigs. On Friday against the Cubs, Lopez turned in his fifth straight start of at least six innings and one run or less allowed, as he surrendered just one run on five hits with eight strikeouts over seven innings. Overall during that span, the 24-year-old right-hander has put up a ridiculous 0.80 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and 9.5 K/9 across 34.0 innings. Lopez has had his moments this year, but nothing quite like this. He could certainly be a budding breakout candidate for 2019.

 

In Case You Missed It

Lopez is not the only young White Sox star locked in lately, as slugger Daniel Palka did not even need to be a part of Friday’s starting to lineup to homer for the fifth time in his last five games. Over 416 plate appearances this season, Palka has blasted 27 roundtrippers while slugging .503 with a .261 ISO.

Khris Davis just continues to crush the baseball in Oakland. The MLB home-run leader launched not one but two balls out of the yard in Friday's 7-6 win over the Twins, giving him 45 for the season. The second of those homers was a walk-off shot in the 10th inning that brought the A’s magic number for a playoff berth to just three games.

 

Speaking of magic numbers for an A.L. playoff spot, the Yankees’ now sits at two following a 10-8 win over the Orioles on Friday night. Aaron Hicks set the pace atop the Pinstripers’ lineup, going 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, two walks, and four runs scored. The switch-hitting outfielder is now 7-for-19 with five RBI and six runs scored during his current five-game hitting streak.

 

Saturday on the Hill

For most of the summer, it did not seem like 37-year-old veteran Adam Wainwright would be a factor in a playoff race for the Cardinals, but that has certainly changed. The three-time All-Star has made two starts since coming off a near four-month stint on the DL, and in the most recent one this past Sunday, he was nothing short of brilliant. In that outing, Wainwright resembled his ace form of years gone by, as he allowed only two hits and three walks while striking out nine across six shutout frames against the Dodgers. He will look to follow up on that effort Saturday afternoon versus rookie hurler Dereck Rodriguez and the Giants.

Another righty that missed a large chunk of the summer due to injury before returning to a playoff race here in the regular season’s final month is Zach Davies . Davies has made three starts for the Brewers this month, and though he has yet to log more than five innings in any of them, he has been quite solid. This month, the 17-game winner from last season has posted a 3.00 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 12-to-3 K/BB ratio across 15.0 innings. Davies will be on the mound opposite Trevor Williams on Saturday evening.

The Rangers are more than 20 games under .500, in the cellar in the A.L. West, and recently fired their manager, but one of the few bright spots for the team of late has been the work of lefty Mike Minor . In fact, Minor has been excellent throughout the second half of the campaign. Since the All-Star break, he has given up two runs or less in 8-of-9 starts while working to a nice 2.72 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 8.3 K/9 across 53.0 innings. Minor will face Marco Gonzales and the Mariners in Arlington on Saturday night.