Four and a half games, and a weekend that went wrong fast
Detroit arrived in Chicago with a chance to climb. They left further away than when they showed up. The White Sox took Friday 9-5, then survived a 4-3 grinder on Saturday, and the lead in the American League Central now sits at four and a half games.
The Tigers had won nine of their previous 12. That is what made the trip sting. Beating a direct rival in a head-to-head series moves the standings in a way that a win against a last-place club never will, and Will Venable refused to dress it up afterward.
“We won a series, and that was the job,” the White Sox manager said. “You can make a fuss about it being the Tigers. That’s not really where we are. We just want to win every series, and the guys did that.”
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Detroit’s rotation is being held together by a July fire sale
Drew Anderson (4-4, 3.91 ERA) gets the ball for the finale. He was not in the opening-day rotation. He is there because Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize were shipped out before the trade deadline, and somebody had to pitch.
Selling two front-line starters in late July while still chasing October is an odd way to run a season. Anderson has held up his end so far: 3 2/3 scoreless innings against Seattle on Aug. 5, then one run on four hits over four innings against Cleveland on Tuesday. No decision either time.
Chicago has been a different story for him. Four career relief outings against the White Sox, 2-2 with a 6.35 ERA. Three of them came this season, and they were ugly. Four runs in 2 2/3 innings, with home runs served up to Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas.
Sean Burke has owned this matchup, and it has not always mattered
Burke (7-6, 2.99 ERA) is 1-0 with a 1.56 ERA in three starts against Detroit. On May 31 he went 5 1/3 innings, gave up a run on three hits and walked off with a 2-1 win. Tuesday was better still: seven innings, one run, three hits, no walks, eight strikeouts against Cincinnati. Chicago lost anyway, 5-4 in 10.
Detroit still holds the last wild card. Six teams want it. A.J. Hinch keeps pointing at the room rather than the roster. “I have never seen this team sulk,” the Tigers manager said. “We’re going to have to dig a little deeper.”
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