Game 2: Can White Sox get to Valdez? Giolito likes pitching at Minute Maid Park.

By Mark Gonzales

The White Sox have thrived against left-handed starters but will be challenged Friday against Framber Valdez in Game 2 of the American League division series at Minute Maid Park.

Valdez, 27, limited right-handed batters to a .219 batting average and a .626 OPS in 22 starts. Valdez beat the White Sox 7-3 on June 19 with seven innings of six-hit ball before losing to them 4-0 at Guaranteed Rate Field on July 18.

The White Sox could start right-handed hitters Andrew Vaughn and Adam Engel against Valdez, who missed nearly two months because of a left ring finger fracture but still finished with an 11-6 record and 3.14 ERA in 22 starts.

Vaughn is 3-for-5 with a home run against Valdez, and Engel is 3-for-8.

In the 4-2 win, switch hitter Yoan Moncada and Tim Anderson each hit home runs against Valdez, who allowed 12 in 134 2/3 innings.

"I feel comfortable against that lineup," Valdez told reporters Thursday. "They executed on a few pitches, but I feel like I just need to make a couple little adjustments, and I'll be ready to have success against them."

The White Sox were 25-17 in games against left-handed starters in 2021.

Meanwhile, Lucas Giolito feels more comfortable than he did during in the first game of the 2020 AL Wild Card Series, when he beat the Oakland Athletics 4-1.

"I'm definitely not as nervous as I was last year," Giolito said. "The nerves kind of ended up working in my favor and kept me focused. But having experience in anything is going to make you more prepared for the next time you do it."

Giolito pitched one of his best games of the season against the Astros, throwing a three-hit complete game 10-1 victory on July 17.

Giolito also has a 1.57 ERA in three career starts at Minute Maid, a notorious hitters' park because of its short dimensions in left field.

"I like this ballpark," Giolito said. "I like this mound. But at the same time, every single game is different. So a pitcher can go out there with good stuff, bad stuff, somewhere in between."

Giolito has limited 2021 AL batting champion Yuli Gurriel to two hits in 15 at-bats, but Michael Brantley is 6-for-12 with two home runs.

Giolito was 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA while limiting opponents to a .192 batting average in his last nine starts.