Detroit @ Chicago preview
Guaranteed Rate Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 13, 2010 ) Detroit 4, Chi. White Sox 8
The Chicago White Sox are doing their part. Now they just need the Minnesota Twins to start losing.
The White Sox will be looking to hold serve in the AL Central race when they face the struggling Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
What was a three-team race a month ago with the Tigers in the mix, the AL Central has become a two-team battle with Chicago and Minnesota battling back and forth for the advantage. The Twins grabbed a one-game edge by taking two of three in a series with the White Sox earlier in the week and maintained that advantage with a win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday.
Chicago did its part to stay within one game by bashing three homers en route to an 8-4 win over Detroit on Friday. Alexei Ramirez, Gordon Beckham and Mark Teahan all went deep for the White Sox while Mark Buehrle stepped up with 6 1/3 solid innings to secure his 11th win of the season.
With another three-game series against the Twins looming next week, Chicago is attempting to keep within striking distance while they contend with the Tigers, who seem to have packed it in at this point.
Detroit has lost 14 of its last 18 games to fall five games below .500 and 10 1/2 games behind Minnesota in the division.
Rick Porcello will be looking to post back-to-back wins for the first time this season when he takes the mound for the Tigers on Saturday. The 21-year-old right-hander snapped an eight-start winless streak last week against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, allowing three runs - two earned - and eight hits in six innings.
Porcello entered this season with high expectations after going 14-9 with a 3.96 ERA as a 20-year-old in his 2009 rookie campaign. However, a slow start to 2010 has spiraled into a lost season for Porcello, who was even banished to the minors for a month before the All-Star break.
A big part of the reason for Porcello’s struggles has been the White Sox, who have pounded the former first-round pick for 19 runs and 24 hits in 14 2/3 innings over three starts - all losses.
Chicago will counter with former Detroit right-hander Edwin Jackson. Brought over at the trade deadline in exchange for top pitching prospect Dan Hudson, Jackson has been strong in two starts for his new team. He has yielded a total of two earned runs while striking out 13 and walking two in 13 innings.
Jackson faced his former team in his first start back in the American League on Aug. 4, allowing one run and nine hits in seven innings while striking out six. He has never lost in his career against the Tigers, going 3-0 with a 2.93 ERA in six games - four starts.