MLB Game Preview - Chicago Sox at Detroit

Mon Aug 5, 2019 7:10 PM EDT

A pair of slumping teams get together on Monday, but one is in much better spirits after a successful weekend and offensive breakout.

The Chicago White Sox, fresh off their first series win since July 19-21, travel to Detroit to face the Tigers in the first of a four-game series.

The White Sox broke out on offense Sunday in the finale of their three-game series in Philadelphia, blasting three home runs in a 10-5 win over a playoff contender. Leury Garcia mashed a grand slam, Eloy Jimenez smacked a three-run homer and Tim Anderson added a solo shot in the cathartic win.

After a first half in which the young White Sox lingered close to .500, they entered their weekend series at 4-16 since the All-Star break while scoring three runs or fewer in 15 of 20 games.

Scoring 10 runs for the first time since June 14 against the New York Yankees to cap a series win on the road undoubtedly gave the White Sox a lift.

"It's a big pick-me-up," manager Rick Renteria said.

"All I can say is, when your team struggles, everybody tries to do too much," said Jimenez, per the Chicago Sun-Times. "Today we went out to enjoy the game, and you see what happened; you see the results. Against a 1/8contending 3/8 team, we took the series."

The Tigers have also found post-break wins hard to come by. Detroit finished a 10-game road trip by getting swept by the Texas Rangers, ending its trip at 2-8 with half of the eight losses by five runs or more.

The Tigers' bullpen let a 4-4 game get away from them on Sunday as three relievers allowed five runs in two innings of a 9-4 loss. The deflating defeat dropped Detroit to just 4-18 in the season's second half.

With the loss, the rebuilding Tigers became the only team in the majors with a winning percentage below .300 (32-75, .299).

"I felt like we are in every game, honestly," said Jordan Zimmermann, Sunday's starting pitcher. "We're pitching well, we're grinding out at-bats. We're getting some hits when we need to and we're scratching out runs. Just things aren't going our way right now."

On Monday, the White Sox have their ace on the hill with Lucas Giolito (11-5, 3.39 ERA) getting the start. An All-Star for the first time in his three big-league seasons, his ERA has grown by over a run since his lockdown start to the season.

Following his start on June 14, the 25-year-old right-hander was 10-1 with a 2.22 ERA. Since then he is just 1-4 with an ERA of 5.56, having allowed six or more runs in three of his last eight starts.

Giolito is coming off a strong outing, throwing seven innings while allowing just one run and three hits with nine strikeouts against the New York Mets in a no-decision on Wednesday. He has not faced the Tigers this season and is 3-2 with a 5.01 ERA in six starts in his career against Detroit.

His counterpart on Monday, 26-year-old righty Spencer Turnbull (3-9, 3.65), has also seen a severe dip in performance after a strong first two months to the season. After going 3-4 with a 2.84 ERA through May, he has gone 0-5 with a 5.34 ERA in seven starts since the start of June.

Turnbull has not pitched in the majors since July 17 (six innings, three runs, six hits at Cleveland in a 7-2 loss), having been sidelined with a back injury. But his last rehab outing was a success on Wednesday when he struck out seven in 3 2/3 scoreless innings for Triple-A Toledo.

Turnbull has never faced the White Sox in his two-year career.

--Field Level Media