Last night’s victory for the Sox was certainly exciting, what with tying the game in the ninth on a misplayed squeeze bunt and then winning on a walk-off homer in the 10th. But it was also pyrrhic, since Munetaka Murakami injured a hammie trying to beat out a double play throw in the third inning and wound up on the IL.
Murakami is expected to be out four to six weeks, so the Sox called up Jacob Gonzalez, who seems to have remembered how to hit and has been smashing the ball in Charlotte. With Murakami out,
Gonzalez is expected to take over at short, with Colson Montgomery moving to third and last night’s hero, Miguel Vargas, shifting to first. That will wait at least a day, because Gonzalez isn’t in today’s starting lineup.
The pitching matchup is a battle of veteran lefties, with Anthony Kay going for the Sox and Framber Valdez for the Tigers. Valdez is having by far his worst season since 2019, with a 4.28 ERA and 1.33 WHIP, but he was sharp last time out, holding the Orioles to two hits and one run over six innings. He’ll face a Sox lineup that has historically hit him well, especially Edgar Quero (5-for-6 with four RBIs).
Kay faces a Detroit team with an injured list that is probably the best team in the AL Central, but an active list that is the worst, with four of today’s starters hitting worse than .200 and two more barely better. Kay has had an excellent May, giving up only six earned runs in 27 1/3 innings over five starts.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Central on a perfect baseball day, with partly sunny skies, temps in the mid-sixties, and wind blowing left to right with gusts to 21 mph to keep things interesting. Usual broadcast suspects.
