Gamethread: White Sox at Tigers

Chicago looks to secure at least a split

After a sparkling offensive evening, the South Siders will look to pick up where they left off this afternoon. Will they need another 12 runs on 17 hits to get a win? Probably not, but it would be fun to see that again.

Jesse Scholtens will attempt to limit the Tigers offense. The righty took the bulk of the innings during Chicago’s opening game in Cleveland this week. Five innings of one-run baseball earned him today’s start in Detroit. Scholtens was originally called up on April 7 after the José Ruiz DFA, and returned to the team on Monday as an injury replacement. While his stats in the big leagues are limited, Scholtens is 2-2 with a 3.99 ERA in Triple-A this season. He has struck out 42 and walked just 11 in his seven starts in Charlotte.

Prior to today’s start Scholtens had appeared in three games with the White Sox. He has taken the loss in two of those appearances — despite giving up just two earned runs in eight innings of work. Scholtens has four pitches in his arsenal, using an 86 mph slider and 92 mph four-seam fastball the most. When the batter is behind in the count, he is likely to see Scholtens’ slider.

Facing off against Scholtens is right-handed pitcher Michael Lorenzen. The veteran, in his ninth season, is 2-2 on the year with a 4.08 ERA. In his 39 2⁄3 innings of work this year, he has struck out 31 and walked 11. Lorenzen will utilize a four-seamer, changeup, slider and sinker while occasionally mixing in a sweeper, cutter, and curveball. His four-seam fastball usage at 35%, is the highest it has been since he came into the league in 2015. Usage of this pitch goes up to 38% in two-strike counts. If you don’t see a fastball with two strikes, you can expect a changeup.

Noticeably not in today’s lineup for the White Sox is Luis Robert Jr. He was replaced in the bottom of the eighth inning last night by Adam Haseley. Given that Robert was struggling with a quad issue earlier this week, it is likely he is sitting because of the quick turnaround on games. In center field instead is the newest outfield sensation, Clint Frazier. The rest of Chicago’s lineup is below.

A.J. Hinch is back managing tonight and has made some changes to his lineup. Of note, Javier Báez, Matt Vierling, and Miguel Cabrera are out of the mix this afternoon.

First pitch is at 12:10 p.m. CST. The game is back on NBCSC today and can be listened to on ESPN 1000.

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