Gamethread: Tigers at White Sox

Good afternoon fans, and happy Sunday!

Today, the Chicago White Sox will take on the Detroit Tigers for the finale game of their four-game set, and are looking to win the series with a win today. After a successful two games against the Tigers, they fell just short yesterday, but hopefully the team can close out the series and redeem themselves with a Sunday afternoon win before an off-day tomorrow.

The good news is that Adam Engel is back! I’m sure if you told fans at the beginning of the season that they would be long awaiting the return of Engel as our starting center fielder in June, it would be a little confusing.

Nonetheless, he will return, but sadly at the cost of Billy Hamilton. Hamilton was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, which is a big loss for the time being, but the return of Engel sure will help, and hopefully Hamilton can return back to full strength.

Let’s take a look at the starting pitchers for today.

Dylan Cease will get the start for the South Siders, currently with a 3-2 record, a 3.79 ERA, and a 1.35 WHIP. Cease has been consistent for the most part of the season, but he did have some issues early on in Cleveland his last start out. He picked up a short outing only going 3 ¹⁄₃ innings and allowing eight hits, six earned runs, one walk, and two strikeouts. Hopefully he will be able to go longer today with more consistent innings, and focus on his control and command to not allow a large amount of walks, which has been a problem in the past. Behind his fastball (thrown 49.2% of the time), his slider (30.2%) will be extremely effective if he can get a feel for it and hit his spots.

José Urena will take on the mound for the Tigers. The righty was activated from the 10-day injured list prior to his start today. After some lower forearm tightness, he missed one start. In 10 games this season, he is 2-4 with a 4.14 ERA and 1.44 WHIP. His last start against Cleveland was successful, going 5 ²⁄₃ innings with three hits, no earned runs, and three walks. Urena’s main pitch is a sinker, which is thrown 48% of the time. He also throws his slider 26.6% of the time, followed by his fastball at 13.6%, which is different than most pitchers. But as long as our hitters can adjust, it would be great to see a solid offensive display.

Tim Anderson will lead it off, followed by the hot Jake Lamb. Lamb, who has been on fire in every game he has played recently, will look to do some damage in the 2-spot of the order. Yoán Moncada will be in the 3-spot, followed by Yermín Mercedes at DH after an off-day yesterday. Yasmani Grandal will look to continue getting on base, followed by Andrew Vaughn playing first base, as José Abreu takes the day off. Engel will be in center field in his debut.

Game time is at 1:10 p.m. CT on NBCSCHI. You can listen in on the action at ESPN 1000 as well. I’ve got your postgame recap, Chrystal O’Keefe is on the Six Pack of Stats.