The Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers continue their weekend series in Detroit on Friday night. The two teams are both lagging behind first-place Minnesota in the AL Central Division and, while both teams are under .500 at the moment, both are still well within striking distance of the struggling Twins. The pitching matchup on Friday night will feature veteran righty Lance Lynn (3-5, 6.28) of the White Sox opposing Tigers' lefty Joey Wentz (1-4, 7.45). The first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM EST.
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Back on the Rise
After enduring one of the worst opening months in team history, the Chicago White Sox have quietly played solid baseball in May. The White Sox finished April with a record of just 7-20 and closed the month with 11 losses in 12 games. Since then, the White Sox have gone 13-9 in April and came into this series with five wins in their last six games including two of three over last year's AL Central Division champions, the Cleveland Guardians. On Thursday night in the series opener, the White Sox fell 7-2 after collecting just four hits and striking out 13 times as a team.
A 5-run frame! 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/I17ssSHQxO
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 24, 2023
The White Sox will hand the ball off to Lance Lynn in game two of the series on Friday night. Lynn is just 3-5 with an ERA of 6.28 in 10 starts this season with three quality starts. Lynn has allowed 65 hits in 57.1 innings pitched and has a K/9 rate of 10.5. On the road, Lynn is 1-2 with an ERA of 6.35 in five starts with just one quality start thus far. In his last three games, however, Lynn has gone 2-1 with an ERA of 5.00 allowing 20 hits in 18 innings of work. In his last two starts, in particular, Lynn has looked like himself while allowing just three runs over 13 innings in consecutive wins.
Key Injuries: OF Eloy Jimenez and IF Elvis Andrus are out. OF Luis Robert Jr. is day-to-day
Ahead of Schedule
After finishing in last place in 2022 and without any major moves this offseason, it was assumed that the Tigers would once again be among the bottom feeders in the American League. Thus far, at least, the Tigers have proved the skeptics wrong with a solid start to the season that finds them in second place in the AL Central Division heading into this series. Detroit took two of three games at Kansas City to start the week before returning home to face the White Sox in this four-game weekend series. On Thursday night, the Tigers offense came alive with 10 hits and 7 runs while drawing a season-high 11 walks in a 7-2 win.
Short King 👑 pic.twitter.com/KLT2HFMYTZ
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) May 25, 2023
The Tigers hope that left-hander Joey Wentz will find the groove that had him finishing 2022 as arguably the team's best pitcher when he takes the ball on Friday night. Wentz is just 1-4 on the season with an inflated ERA of 7.45 in nine starts thus far. Wentz has given up 49 hits in just 32.1 innings this season and has yet to have a quality start this season. At home, Wentz is 0-1 in five starts with an ERA of 6.65. Wentz's hard hit rate percentage has gone up 7% this season to over 40% while his strikeout rate has dropped from 20% to just 17%.
Key Injuries: DH Kerry Carpenter is out.
Best Bets for this Game
Full-Game Side Bet
Insiders Status:
While overall Lance Lynn has had mediocre numbers this season including an inflated ERA, he has pitched very well over his last two games and looked like the pitcher that has been among the best in the American League over the last few seasons. Lynn has done so while getting fewer strikeouts and allowing hitters to put the ball in play. Lynn's strikeout rate has dropped by nearly two per game during his win streak but he's allowed just three earned runs over the two wins. Wentz, on the other hand, has not gotten untracked at all this season with an ERA of nearly 7.5 and far more hits allowed than innings pitched. Chicago has been much more efficient lately with a big help going to SS and leadoff hitter Tim Anderson being back in the lineup. Anderson is hitting .300 vs. lefties this season and the White Sox are 17-15 with him in the lineup as opposed to 4-14 without him.
Take the White Sox with the money line.
Full-Game Total Pick
Insiders Status:
This is a tough line considering both teams struggle to put runs on the board. However, I like the two teams to combine for more than eight runs in this game based on the starting pitching, particularly Detroit's Wentz. The Tigers have gone 5-2-2 to the over in his nine starts thus far this season. In addition, the White Sox have gone over the total in four of Lynn's last five starts. Offensively, the White Sox have been far more effective with a healthy Anderson in the lineup.
Take the over.