White Sox seek third straight win after rallying past Tigers
The Chicago White Sox will try to win their third game in a row when they host the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Chicago (56-82) is coming off a dramatic 4-2 win in Monday's series opener. The White Sox trailed 2-1 entering the ninth inning but tied the score on a home run by Daniel Palka before winning it with a two-run shot by Matt Davidson.
The victory pushed the White Sox into sole possession of third place -- something few thought possible as the White Sox flirted with baseball's worst record a month ago. But Chicago has rallied by winning eight of their last 11, 14 of 20 and 19 of 31.
White Sox manager Rick Renteria said everyone on the team deserves credit for the success. But it's hard not to notice the stellar performance of the starting rotation as of late, which has helped to lead the charge.
"They've been great," Renteria said. "I think these guys are settling in, learning about themselves, knowing what they're capable of doing. I think they're starting to trust themselves. I think their confidence level continues to rise.
"We're trying to get through the back end of ballgames to complete what those guys on the front end have done. Right now, we're going to try to find out a lot, so we'll see how it goes.
"But it doesn't ever take away, regardless of the outcome at the end, it never takes away from what those guys have done at the beginning of the ballgame. We have a lot of guys that have thrown a lot of quality starts for us, up and down (the rotation)."
A prime example is right-hander Lucas Giolito (10-9, 5.66 ERA), who is scheduled to make his 28th start in the second game of a three-game set against Detroit.
Giolito is 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA in his last three starts, limiting opponents to a .191 batting average (18-for-94) during that span. He tied a season high with eight strikeouts his last time out against the Boston Red Sox.
In five career starts against Detroit, Giolito is 3-1 with a 4.06 ERA. He has walked 10 and struck out 27 in 31 innings.
As Chicago enjoys a hot streak, the same cannot be said for Detroit (55-83). The Tigers' latest walk-off defeat sent them to fourth place in the AL Central and marked their eighth loss in the past 10 games.
Tigers left-hander Francisco Liriano (3-9, 4.96 ERA) will try to stop the skid when he makes his 22nd start. Liriano gave up five runs (four earned) and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings his last time out against the New York Yankees but did not pick up a decision.
In 19 appearances against the White Sox, including 13 as a starter, Liriano is 6-5 with a 4.66 ERA. He drew the loss in his last outing against Chicago as he surrendered five runs and six hits in five innings. He has a 6.38 ERA at Guaranteed Rate Field.
