Gamethread: White Sox at Tigers

Happy 4th of July! It’s a day of fireworks, family, outdoor activities, food, and, of course, the Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers game. The teams will face off in the final game of this three-game set, and the winner today will take the series.

Yesterday, the Tigers seemed to come alive offensively to steal the win, 11-5, so it will be important for the White Sox to break out in a way of their own today. They also look to join the 50-win club with the Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, and Los Angeles Dodgers with a win today.

After their five-game win streak was snapped yesterday, i’m sure the team is looking to start another one. So hey, let’s take a look at who will be on the mound this afternoon.

Lucas Giolito will pitch today, with his current 6-5 record, 3.84 ERA, and 1.10 WHIP. His last outing was a bit of a shaky start against the Minnesota Twins after allowing a first inning home run to Josh Donaldson, but he was able to settle down and have a solid outing the rest of the way. He pitched six innings total with six hits, and three earned runs. He only had one strikeout, which was rare for him, so hopefully we can see that number go up today. His 4-seam fastball has been his most-used pitch (44% of the time), followed by his changeup (37.3%) which has seen some trouble in allowing home runs this year. He also throws a slider (16.8%) and his curveball (1.9%). Giolito has a 3.24 career ERA at Comerica Park in 25 innings pitched.

Highly-regarded righty Matt Manning will be Detroit’s pitcher today, and has only pitched in three games this year. The 23-year-old has a 1-2 record with a 8.16 ERA and 1.53 WHIP, in only 14 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched. His last outing was short against Cleveland, where he went 3 ²⁄₃ innings with nine hits, nine earned runs, and two strikeouts. Yeah, I guess you can see now where his high ERA came from. Manning will try to erase that one away, and start fresh today. Manning relies on five pitches, but uses his fastball 65.1% of the time. He follows with his changeup (15.9%) and slider (15.1%).

Tim Anderson will lead it off, followed by Gavin Sheets testing out the 2-spot once again as the DH. José Abreu will be back at first base, as Brian Goodwin takes over today in center field. Leury García is looking to stay hot while Andrew Vaughn and Adam Eaton take the corners in the outfield. Jake Burger will take over for Yoán Moncada at third base again, while Zack Collins covers for Yasmani Grandal at catcher, who is still taking it day-by-day when it comes to his left calf. By the way, catch the Eaton/Burger combination in the lineup, which is quite funny and perfect for today. Sorry, the Burger jokes will likely never end.

Game time is at 12:10 p.m. CT and you can tune in to watch on NBCSCHI. Listen in if you’re on the go at ESPN 1000. It’s looking like a beautiful afternoon today, so let’s finish this thing off.