A tale of two terrible teams with some pretty good starting pitching is on today, as Lucas Giolito and the Chicago White Sox look to start another series off well, while Spencer Turnbull looks to end the three-game losing streak for the Detroit Tigers.
It has been a hot and cold past two months for Giolito, as every good start is followed up by a subpar or truly awful one. After an abysmal game against the Minnesota Twins on July 25, Giolito threw a great one his last time out against the New York Mets. He went seven innings, struck out nine, and only allowed one run for a 78 FanGraphs game score. Tonight will be Giolito’s first start against the Tigers this season, but he has had success in Comerica Park in the past — though this iteration of Giolito is much different than years past, and the same goes for the Tigers offense.
Turnbull is coming off the 10-day IL for his start tonight, so it’s his first appearance since July 17. He has been pretty decent this season, with a 3.65 ERA and 4.05 FIP. He works with four pitches: four-seam fastball (93.7 mph average), slider, sinker, and curve, to varying degrees of success. Like most sinkers thrown nowadays, it is not real effective, with a .324 batting average against. The two breaking balls are his putaway pitches; the slider is his best pitch overall, but he relies more on inducing ground balls. Chances are, the White Sox hitters will oblige. This will be Turnbull’s first start against Chicago.
Lineups:
Sox at Tigers pic.twitter.com/1iZSITJ449
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) August 5, 2019
Game is at 6:10 p.m. on NBCSCH and WGN 720.