Incredibly, the White Sox (53-88) have won five consecutive games. Tonight, they will begin a series against the mighty Tigers (81-60), who are very likely to win the AL Central. Detroit has asserted itself as one of baseball’s best teams.
Shane Smith, 25, holds a 3.81 ERA and a 4.42 FIP in 120 1/3 innings, accumulating 1.4 fWAR during his rookie season. During his last start, Smith pitched a quality start against the Yankees (78-62), allowing two runs in 6 1/3 innings. Smith allowed two solo homers
in that game, but besides that, he was terrific. Smith is riding the wave of back-to-back quality starts, as he also held the Royals (71-69) scoreless in seven innings of work on August 25.
Jack Flaherty, 29, has 4.74, ERA in 142 1/3 innings, as this season has not gone as planned for him. However, Flaherty’s FIP (3.95) is much lower, indicating he has had some bad luck, and he has accumulated a solid total of 2.1 fWAR. In his career, Flaherty has made six starts against the White Sox. Flaherty has performed well against the South Siders, delivering a 3.45 ERA and holding them to a .236/.297/.346 slash line in 31 1/3 innings.
Here are tonight’s starting lineups:
This afternoon, the White Sox made the following announcement:
The first pitch is scheduled to happen at 5:40 p.m. Central. As usual, CHSN will televise the game, and WMVP 1000 AM will have the radio coverage.
