Gamethread: Tigers at White Sox

If you’re among those of us who felt anything less than taking three out of four from the Tigers at home would be a major disappointment, it’s too late to stop that angst from flowing. But maybe, just maybe, the White Sox, currently much closer to fourth place than first in the worst division in the majors, can salvage a split in the series.

Big maybe.

On the mound for the Sox on a beautiful Saturday afternoon will be Johnny Cueto, the last-second signing — to a minor league contract, no less — that was the brightest spot in Rick Hahn’s otherwise dismal offseason. Cueto’s last outing was strange for him, in that he issued five walks en route to six innings of two-run ball against the Twins. That’s about triple his usual free-pass rate.

Cueto will be squaring off against Garrett Hill, a 26-year-old righty who began the season in Double-A and will be making just his second major league appearance, having gotten called up last week. That appearance was impressive — six innings, two hits, one run, as part of the Tigers’ sweep of the Guardians — but he got 10 of his outs on fly balls, so the GuRF may not be a friendly place for him. We hope.

Hill only throws about one-third four-seamers, with pretty much everything else intended to break down in some way, so the fly balls were a little surprising. He’ll be facing a White Sox lineup that has Leury García in left and Gavin Sheets in right, so no Eloy Jiménez.

Of the Detroit lineup, Miguel Cabrera and Jonathan Schoop have hit Cueto very well, but in a shock to few, he’s a total mystery to Javy Báez.

First pitch set for 1:10 p.m. Central, with a sunny 73° and wind blowing from left to right. Usual broadcast suspects.