After a tough loss to the Cubs on Thursday afternoon, the Tigers bounced back in a big way in Friday night’s 5-2 victory over the White Sox on the south side of Chicago.
Matt Vierling was the driving force on the offensive side of the ball as he got the scoring started in the top half of the first inning with a run-scoring double off of Chris Flexen. He then put them ahead to stay with an RBI single off Justin Anderson in the seventh inning. The 27-year-old outfielder also worked a walk in the ninth inning, finishing the evening 2-for-4.
Keider Montero — one of just two traditional starting pitchers in the Tigers’ current rotation — pitched decently enough in his five innings of work, surrendering two runs on six hits and a pair of walks while striking out four. Montero got eight swings and misses on 88 pitches on the night — five on his fastball — while posting a CSW of 26 percent. While he has looked much better in recent starts, he’ll still carry an uninspiring 5.15 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and a 53/21 K/BB ratio (64 2/3 innings) into Wednesday’s tilt against the Angels.
The bullpen was once again the story for the Tigers as Sean Guenther, Will Vest, Shelby Miller, and Jason Foley combined to shut out the White Sox on just three hits over the final four innings. Foley was particularly impressive, needing just four pitches to retire the side in order in the ninth and pick up his 17th save of the season.
Now 63-66 on the season, the Tigers will look to make it two in a row as they send star left-hander Tarik Skubal to the mound on Saturday against White Sox’ rookie southpaw Ky Bush.
Javier Báez Lands on IL
Before Friday’s series opener against the White Sox, Javier Báez was placed on the 10-day injured list with right hip and lumbar spine inflammation. Ryan Kriedler was recalled from Triple-A Toledo to take his place on the active roster. Most Tigers’ fans when hearing the news that Baez didn’t have a locker in the visiting locker room at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday were hopeful that the 31-year-old shortstop had finally been designated for assignment. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
The 31-year-old shortstop still has three years and $73 million remaining on his salary, but the Tigers have yet to accept that amount as a sunk cost and move on from what had been a brutal free-agent signing. In his three seasons with the club, Báez has flailed the bat wildly to an abysmal .221/.263/.347 slash line with 32 homers, 163 RBI, and 29 stolen bases in 360 games.
News and Notes
Casey Mize (hamstring) will make another minor league rehab start at Triple-A Toledo on Saturday and is on track to rejoin the Tigers’ rotation in early September. Wenceel Perez (oblique) has resumed full baseball activities. He has been playing catch and running daily as well as starting a hitting progression. Reese Olson (shoulder) will throw a bullpen session on Saturday. If all goes well there, he could be cleared to face live hitters for the first time since landing on the injured list. The Tigers signed former Padres’ outfielder Oscar Mercado to a minor league contract. He’ll report to Triple-A Toledo.
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