Detroit Tigers (55-71) vs. Chicago White Sox (50-76)
MLB Baseball: Saturday, August 26th, 7:10 pm EST
Buck Farmer (2-1, 6.62 ERA) vs. Carlos Rodon (2-4, 3.88 ERA)
Line: Chicago White Sox -140/Detroit +126
Total: 9
The Tigers play the middle game of a three game series in Chicago against the White Sox on Saturday night. As bad as the White Sox have been, the Tigers are only five games ahead of them in the standings and have been really bad themselves lately. They have lost eight of ten, although they did beat up the Yankees on Thursday by a score of 10-6, but still lost two of three.
The White Sox got off to a great start this year, but they haven’t been a factor since the second month of the season. Once they traded Jose Quintana about six weeks ago, they started flying the white flag and they have been one of the worst teams in the major leagues ever since. Their only race is to see if they can beat out the Tigers for fourth place in the AL Central.
Buck Farmer gets the start
Buck Farmer will take the hill for the Tigers on Saturday, and he has been a Jekyll and Hyde pitcher through his first four games this year. His first two starts were things of perfection, as he went 6.2 innings and then 6.1 innings without allowing a run in either start. But then he got shelled in his next two starts, giving up 13 earned runs over 4.2 innings.
He was then hurt and put on the shelf for awhile. His last start was on June 18th, so this will be over two months since he’s made his last start. He had been more of a reliever leading into this year, and I don’t have much faith that he’s going to go far in the game, especially after a long layoff.
Rodon has pitched well
Carlos Rodon gets the call for the White Sox on Saturday and he’s pitched well for the White Sox this year. He doesn’t have the wins to show for it, coming in at only 2-4, but he’s pitched well for a last place team and that’s not always easy to do. He’s been particularly good over his last five starts.
During that span, he’s given up two earned runs or less in all five of those starts. He’s given up two earned runs four times and one earned run once. He had been let down by the White Sox offense and had four straight no decisions before earning a win in his latest start. This stretch has helped lower his ERA to a very respectable 3.88.
MLB Trends:
The Detroit Tigers are:
- 2-8 in their last 10 games on grass.
- 1-5 in their last 6 games vs. a starter with a WHIP greater than 1.30.
- 2-9 in Farmer’s last 11 starts.
The Chicago White Sox are:
- 4-1 in Rodon’s last 5 starts with 4 days of rest.
- 6-1 in Rodon’s last 7 Saturday starts.
This is a battle of two lousy teams, but I have a little more faith in Carlos Rodon than I do in Buck Farmer, who has been shelled in his last two starts. Let’s take the White Sox at home on Saturday.