The Chicago White Sox continue their quest to win back-to-back AL Central Division crowns as they travel to Detroit to take on the Tigers in a three-game weekend series. The White Sox have little room for error with under three weeks to go in the season. The Tigers, meanwhile, are in last place in the AL Central and will try to play the role of spoiler this weekend. The pitching matchup on Friday night will feature Lucas Giolito (10-9, 5.18) of the White Sox taking on Matt Manning (2-2, 3.73) of the Tigers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm EST.
It has been a trying year full of injuries, controversies and change for the Chicago White Sox. And yet, here they stand, just a few games out of first place and very much in the hunt with just 16 games left in the season. The White Sox cannot afford any losses against also-rans like Detroit at this point with a three-game deficit to the Guardians. The White Sox have one more series against Cleveland starting on Tuesday at home. Meanwhile, in a brief one-game makeup on Thursday afternoon against the Guardians, Lance Lynn went 6.1 innings and gave up six hits and two runs to pick up a critical win for the Sox. Chicago belted five home runs in the 8-2 win and now sit three games back of the Guardians.
BACK-TO-BACK!#ChangeTheGame | @NBCSChicago pic.twitter.com/fm5FN16V2b
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 15, 2022
The White Sox have to take series from here on in with a deficit to the Guardians. The loser of the AL Central race will likely be out of the playoffs all together with a sizable gap between either team and the top three wildcard teams at the moment. The ChiSox will turn to Lucas Giolito on Friday night in Detroit to get the series off right. Giolito is second on the team in wins, strikeouts and strikeouts per nine. In his last five starts, Giolito is just 1-3 with a 6.31 ERA as he appears to be tiring down the stretch. After pitching over 170+ innings in three of his last four seasons, Giolito is likely looking at a season under that total as well as a significant drop in strikeouts this season. Giolito is 1-1 in three starts against the Tigers this season with an ERA of 4.58.