CHICAGO WHITE SOX (24-28) vs. DETROIT TIGERS (25-28)
Game 1
Derek Holland (4-4, 2.37 ERA, 52 K) vs. Michael Fulmer (5-3, 2.65 ERA, 54 K)
Friday, June 2 @ 7:10 p.m. ET
TV: Fox Sports Detroit | Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
This will be the 3rd time in a month Derek Holland will start against the Detroit Tigers, including a start just last Saturday, a game the Tigers won, 4-3 . He has thrown 12.1 innings and allowed 12 hits, while giving up just three runs total. However, the Tigers have managed to go 1-1 against Holland and Friday will provide them a chance to take the rubber match. Holland has gone 2-2 in the month of May with a 2.56 ERA, and has really looked like a different pitcher from the 4.95 ERA he ended the year with in 2016.
The Tigers will try and provide some type of run support for their 2017 ace, Michael Fulmer. They have not scored a run in each of his last two outings, arguably two of Fulmer’s best starts of the season. The Tigers dropped a 1-0 game to the Astros as well as a 3-0 game to the White Sox, which Fulmer started just last Saturday. Michael Fulmer is the only pitcher in the major leagues who has recorded a quality start in every start this season, and continues to showcase himself as one of the top pitchers in the game.
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Game 2
Miguel Gonzalez (4-5, 4.43 ERA, 39 K) vs. Jordan Zimmerman (4-4, 6.47 ERA, 34 K)
Saturday, June 3 @ 4:10 p.m. ET
TV: Fox Sports Detroit | Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Miguel Gonzalez is another White Sox pitcher who is making his third appearance against the Tigers already this season. For him, it was a tale of two VERY different games. In his first start, the, Tigers touched him up for 14(!) hits and seven runs, a game Detroit won, 7-3. Gonzalez was out for redemption last week when he faced the Tigers on May 28 and redemption he got. Miguel went 7.2 innings and allowed just three earned runs on the way to a 7-3 White Sox victory. Gonzalez will hope for more of the latter than former in Satuday’s mid-day affair.
Every time we take a look at Jordan Zimmerman’s next start, it is accompanied by a recap of how poorly he threw his last time out. I’m sad to report that this time is no different. Zimmerman was absolutely pounded by this very-White Sox team just last Sunday in a match up against Miguel Gonzalez. The Sox touched him up for seven earned runs over just five innings. Zimmerman did throw much better earlier in the season when the two teams met in Detroit, also going five innings but allowing just three earned runs and getting the win. This already marks the third match up of these two starters and we are only in June.
Game 3
David Holmberg (0-0, 2.51 ERA, 8 K) vs. Justin Verlander (4-4, 4.50 ERA, 63 K)
Sunday, June 4 @ 1:l10 p.m. ET
TV: Fox Sports Detroit | Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
David Holmberg is normally a bullpen arm for the White Sox, but his success this season has earned him another start in Sunday’s finale. He started his first game of the season
against the Red Sox last week to mediocre results. He allowed only two hits and walked three and ultimately exited the game having given up three earned runs in just four innings. Holmberg has only allowed one run all season out of the pen before his first start, and he is limiting hitters to an insanely low .109 BA this season.
Does it seem like Justin Verlander just started? Well, it’s because he did. JV has been moved up in the rotation to make the start on Sunday, with the Tigers having off-days on both ends of this three-game series. Verlander was on the mound on Tuesday when the Tigers went to Kansas City and he threw seven innings of one-run ball. He took the loss, however, as the Royals shut out the Tigers, 1-0.
Prediction
When the Tigers traveled to Chicago last weekend for a four-game series with the White Sox, they needed to play well to take a stance in the division that they were going to be a threat to make the playoffs. They lost three of four and looked bad doing it. The moral was low as the Tigers, whose payroll doubles that of the White Sox, left Chicago with a bad taste in their mouths.
Now, after taking two of three in Kansas City, the Detroit Tigers have another opportunity to make a statement at home against the same White Sox team. From a pitching match up standpoint, Detroit holds the advantage with Fulmer and Verlander. It’s not necessarily now or never since the season is only in June, but these are games and series the Tigers need to win if they want to be considered contenders. I think they take all three this weekend.
