White Sox at Tigers
After slugging its way to six straight wins to begin the season,
Detroit is now finding a way to win some pitching duels. The Tigers look
to follow up a walk-off win when they continue a three-game series with
the Chicago White Sox at home on Saturday.
Detroit, which averaged 7.8 runs in its season-opening 6-0 streak, has now won three straight by a combined score of 5-1, picking up a 2-1 triumph over the White Sox on Jose Iglesias' game-winning RBI single in the series opener. The Tigers' 9-1 beginning is their best since the historic 1984 squad that started 16-1 and eventually climbed to 35-5 en route to a World Series crown. The White Sox, who have dropped two in a row, will turn to ace Chris Sale, whose last appearance in Comerica Park resulted in a bench-clearing incident after he hit Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez with a pitch. Sale and Martinez exchanged words while Sale pointed to center field, where Chicago claimed someone was helping to relay signs to Martinez.
TV: 1:08 p.m. ET, CSN Chicago, FSN Detroit
PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox LH Chris Sale (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Tigers RH Anibal Sanchez (1-1, 3.46)
Sale looked just fine in his return from a foot fracture Sunday against Minnesota, limiting the Twins to a run and five hits in six innings while striking out eight. He threw 98 pitches (72 for strikes), just a tad more than manager Robin Ventura had set as a goal before the game, and Sale appears ready to be fully unleashed in this one. He is 5-5 with a 2.84 ERA in 21 career games (11 starts) against Detroit and has a 3.26 mark in his career at Comerica Park, where he struck out 10 in six innings in that emotional affair last September.
Sanchez followed up a scoreless outing in his season debut with an uneven effort at Pittsburgh on Monday, allowing five runs in 6 1/3 frames. He did manage to strike out nine Pirates against zero walks but also surrendered three home runs for the first time since July 28, 2012, which also happened to be his first start as a Tiger. Sanchez was 0-2 with a 4.97 ERA in two starts against the White Sox last year.
WALK-OFFS
1. Martinez (rest) was out of the lineup Friday but is expected to face Sale, against whom he is 15-for-29 with three home runs.
2. Iglesias also doubled in Friday's win and is batting .484 through 10 games.
3. White Sox LF Melky Cabrera is 11-for-24 in his career against Sanchez.