An extended slump has knocked the Chicago White Sox from their familiar perch atop the American League Central.
The White Sox hardly see the setback as a gut punch.
Chicago enters the opener of a four-game series against the visiting Detroit Tigers on Thursday trailing the Cleveland Guardians by a half-game for the division lead. The White Sox (77-75) lost two of three in Cleveland this week to fall out of first place for the first time since July 3.
“It was a tough series. That’s a good characterization of that one,” Chicago manager Will Venable said. “Obviously the results there are not what we want. I am proud of the guys. I think we’re in a good spot.
“There’s been a stretch there where we were not playing good baseball. And for the last four, five games we’ve been playing good baseball. Not the results we want, but I think we’re in a good spot moving forward with some really good things happening.”
Chicago has lost 10 of 15 games to begin September. Starting pitching remains a concern, and slugging first baseman Munetaka Murakami, who’s tied with Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas for the club lead with 31 home runs, is 1-for-20 with 12 strikeouts in the past five games.
After hitting .147 in August, Murakami is batting .096 in September.
Montgomery left Wednesday’s 6-3 loss in Cleveland with a bruised left wrist but X-rays were negative. He is day-to-day.
The White Sox are 6-3 against the Tigers this season.
“Right now everyone knows the value of each game,” said Chicago designated hitter Tommy Pham, who launched a three-run home run Wednesday in just his second game with the White Sox.
Detroit (72-80) is five games back of the White Sox for the third AL wild-card spot with 10 games left.
The Tigers saw their six-game winning streak end with a 5-1 road loss to the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday afternoon. Kevin McGonigle collected two of Detroit’s seven hits but Colt Keith’s double was the team’s only extra-base hit of the game.
Detroit’s winning streak matched its season high, and the loss on Wednesday followed ineffectiveness on the mound and an attack that fizzled while struggling to solve Toronto right-hander Max Scherzer.
“We were aggressive,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said, “and when you do that and don’t get the barrel to the ball as often as we’d like, then there can be some quick outs.”
Left-hander Framber Valdez is set to start for the Tigers as he aims to continue a dominant September. Valdez (10-10, 4.01 ERA) has not permitted an earned run in two starts covering 13 innings this month. He has pitched to a 2.86 ERA over eight starts covering 50 1/3 innings since Aug. 1 and has worked at least six innings in four successive starts.
Valdez has a 5-4 record with a 3.25 ERA in 11 career appearances against the White Sox. In his most recent outing against Chicago, he took the 7-1 loss after giving up four runs on six hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings on May 30.
Chicago is expected to start Erick Fedde (8-9, 3.97). The right-hander is 1-1 with a 1.74 ERA in two appearances this month. He has not pitched since delivering 5 1/3 innings of four-hit, two-run relief in a Sept. 10 loss to Pittsburgh.
Against the Tigers, Fedde has a 0-2 record and a 4.26 ERA in five games (three starts). Two of those appearances have come this season, and he is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA covering 8 2/3 innings. Both games finished with 4-3 scores, with the White Sox winning at home on May 20 and the Tigers victorious on June 19 on the road.
–Field Level Media
