When surging Texas goes for a three-game sweep of the visiting Chicago White Sox on Sunday at Globe Life Park in Arlington Gabriel Landeskog Jersey Kids , Texas, Cole Hamels, the pitcher the Rangers expected to be their bell cow in this season of rebuilding, will be on the mound.

It remains to be seen how much longer Hamels (4-6, with a 3.61 ERA) stays in that position. He could, instead, be a huge piece to the puzzle in a trade that would net more prospects for a team in dire need of them.

The White Sox will send right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (3-5, 3.73 ERA) to the mound in the series finale.

The Rangers beat Chicago 13-4 on Saturday behind five solid innings from the ageless Bartolo Colon, a three-run double from Robinson Chirinos, a home run from Joey Gallo and a seven-run eighth inning.

Texas was without designated hitter Shin-Soo Choo on Saturday as he battles right quad soreness and was given the night off.

Choo said his upper quad has been bothering him over the past 10 days, but he’s played through it well enough to extend his streak of reaching base to 41 straight games, tops in the Major Leagues this season. It’s also tied with Toby Harrah (1985) for the third-longest single-season streak in club history.

“I felt like it was an opportunity to get him off his legs, give him a day,” manager Jeff Banister told mlb.com about Choo’s absence from the starting lineup. “He’s played through it for a while.”

Choo underwent an MRI at his own request on Saturday and said afterward he does not believe the injury is serious.

“I know I have the streak going on, but my body and staying healthy is more important Joonas Donskoi Jersey ,” Choo said. “And winning games is more important than records. I don’t want to make it worse. I don’t think it’s serious.”

Chicago is another team building from the ground up but already has its second baseman of the future, Yoan Moncada, on the field as an everyday player. Moncada, who was acquired from Boston as part of the trade that sent Chris Sale to the Red Sox, has struggled through the first half of the season, hitting just .225 after batting .231 in 54 games last season.

He also has a team-high 13 errors at second base.

“I did not expect to have as many tough, difficult moments as I’ve been having,” Moncada told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I’ve learned that this is a process, it’s something young guys have to get used to. You can’t get frustrated at any point. If you keep your faith in what you do, you’re going to be good.”

Lopez will make his 17th start of the season, 10th on the road and second against the Rangers this season when he takes the hill on Sunday. He is 1-1 with a 2.55 ERA over his past three road starts. His last time out, on June 26, Lopez earned the win versus Minnesota, allowing four runs on six hits over 6 1/3 innings in an 8-4 Chi-Sox victory.

Lopez is receiving a 3.45 run support average this season, the ninth-lowest in the AL. He will be making his third career start against the Rangers and second at Globe Life Park.

Lopez garnered the win in his last start against Texas on May 20 in Chicago Wayne Gretzky Jersey , pitching eight scoreless innings.

Hamels will also make his 17th start of the season and leads all Texas starters in ERA (3.61), starts (16), innings (97 1/3), and strikeouts (97). He has gone 3-2 with a 3.28 ERA in his nine starts since May 5 to lower his ERA from 4.08 to 3.61.

Hamels will be working on five days’ rest and last worked and took a no-decision in the Rangers’ 7-4 win on Monday at home against San Diego. He allowed a season-high nine hits in that game, exiting after trailing 4-1 in the sixth, ending a streak of eight straight starts six-plus or more innings pitched.

Hamels has gone 2-0 with a 2.86 ERA in four career starts against the White Sox, recording quality starts in three of those four outings.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — The talk all offseason surrounding the Kansas City Chiefs has been the way general manager Brett Veach’s front office has surrounded young quarterback Patrick Mahomes II with the weapons to succeed.

They already had speedster Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce. They brought in Kareem Hunt in last year’s draft and he led the league in rushing. This offseason, they spent lavishly to sign wide receiver Sammy Watkins to a three-year deal to provide another downfield threat.

However, Mahomes’ success probably will be dictated by the offensive line. The big guys whose job it is to protect Pat.

The Chiefs brought back their line from last season almost entirely intact, and that may not be a bad thing. They finished middle-of-the-pack when it came to protecting veteran quarterback Alex Smith and they bulldozed enough holes that Hunt ran for 1,327 yards and three touchdowns.

Yet the returns from their preseason opener last week were mixed — Mahomes took far too many shots in the short time he was in the game — and injuries could cripple an otherwise stable bunch.

“You see on the first play of the game, our quarterback got hit. As an offensive line that’s not acceptable to us,” offensive line coach Andy Heck said. “We know the importance of protecting the quarterback, particularly early in the game. So we’re busting our butts out here.”

As rough as things looked against the Texans Youth Chris Wagner Jersey , Heck said there were reasons to be optimistic. When the Chiefs gathered to review game film, an offensive front that’s played together for years knew exactly where they went awry.

“We definitely need a little sense of urgency with the one group,” center Mitch Morse said. “We did a few good things, but there’s some things we definitely need to work on. That’s with every game and every practice. This was just a glorified practice, which was tough. There’s definitely things you look back at and have to look at yourself in a difficult and critical manner.”

The time to correct things is quickly closing.

The Chiefs practiced Tuesday for the last time at Missouri Western, splashing through an early rain shower before packing up their training camp base. They will have a few days off before visiting the Falcons on Friday night, then get back to work at the practice facility in Kansas City.

The Chiefs hope by then their offensive line will be healthy.

The biggest piece presently missing is Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, their medical student-turned-right guard who graded out among the best in the league at his position last year. He’s been out of practice since sustaining a concussion, and it’s unclear when he’ll be cleared to return.

That means Andrew Wylie, an undrafted free agent who spent last year on three different practice squads, has been pressed into duty with the first team.

Wylie has earned some praise from new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who called him “a dirty, tough kid.” He showed that mean streak when he got into a fight this week in practice.

Wylie has been a pleasant surprise. So has Cameron Erving, a former first-round pick of the Browns who arrived in a trade last season. He spent the year as a backup, filling in wherever he was needed Jake DeBrusk Jersey , but he beat out Parker Ehinger early in camp before locking to the left guard job.

The left tackles should be the strength of the offensive line. Eric Fisher on the left side is a former No. 1 overall pick who was good enough to earn a second contract, and Mitchell Schwartz was a big free-agent acquisition last year that held down the right side.

Throw in Morse, another draft pick of the Chiefs, and there should be no excuses for poor play. These guys either were drafted or signed big contracts to protect Mahomes in the pocket.

“We’ve been a young offensive line in the past. Right now, we’re one of the older and more experienced groups on this team,” Heck said. “We expect a lot out of those guys. We expect a lot out of ourselves in that area. We know that we’ve got to amp up the intensity, put the pressure on ourselves, raise that bar a little bit and keep working hard.”

Notes: SS Eric Berry (heel), RB Damien Williams (shoulder), OL Jimmy Murray (knee) and DE Allen Bailey didn’t participate in practice. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he’s being “cautious” with Berry, who is coming off a torn Achilles tendon. “Trying to be smart,” Reid said. “Eric’s been playing a long time.” … Missouri Gov. Mike Parson attended camp along with members of the military.

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