White Sox at Tigers
Nicholas Castellanos had already settled into a bit of a groove when he moved into the second spot in the batting order earlier this week, and he is giving the Detroit Tigers no reason to make a change. The 26-year-old right fielder will try to extend his multi-hit streak to a career-high six games on Saturday as the Tigers attempt to remain perfect against the visiting Chicago White Sox this season.
Manager Ron Gardenhire made the decision to bump his former No. 3 hitter up one spot in the order after he went 2-for-5 in Sunday's loss in Seattle, and he hasn't slowed down a bit since. The Tigers needed every bit of Castellanos' latest hitting exhibition in Friday's 5-4 series-opening victory over Chicago, as he went 3-for-4 with two doubles - the latter of which tied the game late and put him into position to score the eventual game-winning run during a three-run, eighth-inning rally. The White Sox have dropped consecutive games after winning four of five and been unable to figure out a way to solve Detroit, which has won all four meetings. Two of the games have been decided by one run and contributed to Chicago's 13 losses in such contests - the most in the majors.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, NBCS Chicago, FS Detroit
PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox LH Hector Santiago (0-2, 5.17 ERA) vs. Tigers LH Francisco Liriano (3-1, 3.42)
Santiago struck out a season-high seven and produced his first quality start in four tries this season, but it wasn't enough to avoid the loss Monday against Baltimore after he allowed three solo homers across six innings. The New Jersey native has dropped his last nine decisions overall and is searching for his first victory since May 9, 2017. Castellanos (3-for-19, seven strikeouts) has not performed well against Santiago, who threw 2 1/3 scoreless frames in relief against Detroit on April 7.
Liriano carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and allowed only a single to go along with three walks over eight frames Sunday in Seattle, but he got stuck with a no-decision when the bullpen failed to preserve a two-run lead. The outing was a much-needed rebound for the 34-year-old, who had yielded eight runs over 8 1/3 innings in his previous two turns combined. Liriano tossed 1 2/3 scoreless relief innings against Chicago last year and is 6-4 with 4.39 ERA in 18 games (12 starts) versus the White Sox.
WALK-OFFS
1. Castellanos is 9-for-17 with three doubles and a homer batting out of the second spot this season.
2. Chicago stole two more bases Friday and leads the majors with 43.
3. Detroit 3B Jeimer Candelario, who drove home the winning run in the opener, returned from the disabled list Friday and went 1-for-4 while batting third for the first time in his career.