The American League Central-leading Detroit Tigers will aim for a series victory against the last-place White Sox in Chicago on Wednesday behind a bullpen game.
Manager A.J. Hinch said Troy Melton could be in line for extended duty for the Tigers, who surrendered 13 hits and seven walks (two of them with the bases loaded) in a 9-6 defeat on Tuesday.
Detroit’s Colt Keith hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning, but the blast wasn’t enough to erase a handful of disappointing pitching performances.
Codi Heuer, acquired at the trade deadline, allowed a home run in his 1 2/3 innings. Tommy Kahnle, who permitted two runs and got four outs, has been scored upon in eight of his past 11 outings.
After pitching to a 1.77 ERA through June, Kahnle has seen his season ERA swell to 5.21.
Hinch said the Tigers need Kahnle “to work his struggles out. Because he’s an important cog.”
On the plus side for the Tigers, they have scored at least four runs in five of their past six games. Keith and Riley Greene both contributed a pair of hits on Tuesday.
Chicago has lost seven of nine since starting 10-4 after the All-Star break. A 2-1 loss to the Tigers on Monday left the White Sox with a 9-26 record in one-run games.
“I think we’ve seen a couple different examples of our group still continuing to learn how to win,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “There are little moments where we can continue to learn how to win, we can learn how to put teams away. I think that’s just part of being a younger team that’s continuing to grow and understand those things.”
Despite noting various shortcomings during crunch time, Venable has praised the overall poise of Chicago’s rookies.
Shortstop Colson Montgomery has homered in two of the last three games and has 10 homers in 33 games since joining the team in early July. Edgar Quero went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs as the designated hitter on Tuesday, and catcher Kyle Teel produced his second consecutive two-hit game.
“The thing that has stuck out with all these guys that have come up this year is they, right from the beginning, they look like they feel like they belong,” Venable said. “They’ve just got that confidence about them. They look like big-leaguers, they’re walking around like big-leaguers. And at the same time, you know that they have a lot to learn and a lot of development in front of them.
“And so, what’s been great is watching them with the older guys, watching them with the coaches, watching them in meetings. And they’re attacking this thing as if they’ve been around longer. Their growth has been really quick.”
Fellow rookie Shane Smith (3-7, 4.22 ERA) will get the start for the White Sox as he eyes his second home victory against the Tigers this season. Smith spaced three hits, two walks and six strikeouts over 5 1/3 scoreless innings to defeat Detroit on June 3.
He is coming off a no-decision at Seattle on Thursday. Smith allowed two runs and four hits in five innings with one walk and a career-best eight strikeouts.
Detroit leads the season series 6-3.
–Field Level Media
