Gamethread: White Sox at Tigers

The White Sox (8-9) have been a streaky team in early on. After a 1-4 start, the White Sox rattled off six consecutive wins, but since that streak, they have lost five of their last six. The recent cold stretch has dropped the White Sox to fourth place in the AL Central. Meanwhile, the Tigers (9-5) are among the biggest surprises in the majors of the first couple of weeks.

Gio González will start on the mound for the White Sox, and he looks to get the South Siders back on track. In 11 ²⁄₃ innings this season, González has a 7.71 ERA, 6.57 FIP, and 5.41 xFIP. It is still quite early, but his stats render him a -0.1 WAR player according to FanGraphs. Last time on the mound, González got off to a great start, but in the fifth inning, things fell apart after the defense did him no favors. González took the loss in what turned out to be a disappointing 8-3 defeat against the Brewers.

Starting for the Tigers will be left-hander Tyler Alexander, who is off to a fast start in 2020. Alexander made headlines during his relief appearance on August 2, when he struck out 10 batters in three and two-thirds innings. During that outing, Alexander struck out the first nine Cincinnati Reds he faced, which truly is a remarkable accomplishment. In seven and two-thirds innings this season, Alexander has a 1.17 ERA, 2.06 FIP, 1.07 xFIP, and 0.2 FanGraphs WAR.

Here are tonight’s starting lineups:

Earlier this afternoon, the White Sox made the following announcement:

So, Leury García is heading to the injured list. This team just can’t get healthy, can it? On the bright side, it will be great to have TA7 back in the lineup. Anderson will lead it off for the White Sox tonight, and the team could really use his .333/.355/.567 slash line.

This game is set to start at 6:10 CST. NBC Sports Chicago + will televise it, and ESPN 1000 will have the radio coverage. Let’s get back in the win column!