Friday night’s bout between the Detroit Tigers and American LEAgue Central Division-leading Chicago White Sox did not quite have the ending fans of the Olde English D were hoping for, as the good guys fell 5-4 in an extra-inning rematch between Tarik Skubal and Lucas Giolito. On Saturday, two familiar foes will toe the rubber again as the Tigers look to even the weekend series.
Even though Detroit’s overall record leaves a lot to be desired, the team is playing much better since the end of its awful skid earlier this season. Now that the starting rotation is clicking and the offense is finding ways to plate runs, this has become a much more pleasant team to follow. Hopefully, they can steal one from the hated ChiSox today and position themselves for their second-straight series win. But first things first.
Detroit Tigers (26-37) vs. Chicago White Sox (39-24)
Time/Place: 4:10 pm EDT, Comerica Park
SB Nation Site: South Side Sox
Media: Bally Sports Detroit, MLB.tv, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP José Ureña (2-5, 4.25 ERA) vs. RHP Dylan Cease (4-2, 3.36 ERA)
Game 64 Pitching Matchups
| Pitcher | IP | K% | BB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | IP | K% | BB% | FIP | fWAR |
| Ureña | 59.1 | 14.0 | 9.3 | 3.86 | 1.0 |
| Cease | 61.2 | 29.4 | 10.6 | 3.18 | 1.7 |
The last time José Ureña and Dylan Cease faced each other a mere six days ago, Chicago came away with a 3-0 victory, saddling Detroit’s 29-year-old with his second loss of the season. The veteran right-hander tossed five innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out just one on 87 pitches. It was a regression from his previous outing against the Cleveland Indians in which he threw 5 2⁄3 scoreless innings for a no-decision. However, while not providing anything spectacular from the hill Ureña has been a fairly effective starter for the Tigers so far.
Cease, on the other hand, threw a gem last Sunday putting together seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out 10 for the win. It more or less matched the best performance of 2021 for the 25-year-old hurler — a seven-inning doubleheader complete-game shutout on April 29 against the Tigers in which he allowed just three hits while walking none and striking out nine for his first win of the season. Suffice to say, the third-year right-hander appears to have the D’s number,
Key Matchup: Detroit’s offense vs. Dylan Cease
The Tigers have failed to score a single run in 14 innings this year against Chicago’s young gun and are responsible for two of his four wins in 2021. Recording just eight hits and a walk while striking out 19 times, to say that Detroit’s bats are impotent against Cease’s pitching wizardry is quite an understatement. We already know what to expect from Ureña, and while his efforts are often good enough to keep his team in the game, if the Motor City Kitties can’t crack Dylan’s code, it is going to be a rough afternoon.