White Sox's touted pitching prospect to face Tigers (Aug 27, 2017)
CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox will get another glimpse at highly touted prospect Lucas Giolito when he makes his second start of the season Sunday afternoon against the Detroit Tigers.
The right-hander -- who is ranked sixth among Chicago's prospects byMLB.com -- threw three scoreless innings against the Minnesota Twins before he allowed three home runs over the next three innings for a total of four runs in six innings in his White Sox debut Tuesday.
"I feel like I belong," Giolito told reporters after his debut. "I feel like my stuff plays.
"I'm happy I didn't walk anyone. I was able to command the fastball pretty well, but fastball-changeup was pretty much all I had. I wasn't throwing the curveball as well as I would have liked, but I'm going to work on that for the next start."
Chicago (51-77) acquired Giolito (0-1, 6.00 ERA) and right-handers Reynaldo López and Dane Dunning from the Washington Nationals for outfielder Adam Eaton in December. Overall in seven career appearances, Giolito is 0-2 with a 6.59 ERA. He has never faced Detroit.
The Tigers (56-72) will counter with left-hander Matthew Boyd (5-7, 6.24) in the series finale. The teams split the first two games of the series, with Detroit winning 6-3 Saturday and the White Sox walking off 3-2 Friday.
Boyd allowed seven runs in 2 1/3 innings in his last start Tuesday against the New York Yankees. He is 0-3 with a 5.88 ERA in seven career appearances against the White Sox. In three starts against Chicago this season, Boyd is 0-2 with a 7.07 ERA. He has yielded 20 earned runs in 17 2/3 innings in August.
"I need to be better," Boyd said after his last start. "In terms of what other people decide about me, that's out of my control. I know I need to be better, and that's what I'm going to work on when I step in the door tomorrow."
Tigers third baseman Nicholas Castellanos is expected to return to the starting lineup Sunday after sitting out the last two games due to left wrist soreness resulting from Thursday's brawl with the Yankees.
"He said he could play, but I'd rather give him another day," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said before Saturday's game. "He'd be available to pinch hit, but I'd rather avoid him if possible. He had a similar thing a couple of years ago, and he played through it.
The White Sox injuries continue to mount. With infielder/outfielder Nicky Delmonico landing on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained right wrist Saturday and second baseman Yoan Moncada sidelined with a bone contusion of his right shin Friday, Chicago has nine injured players.
"I wish it would never happen," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "They have happened together. Depending on the injuries and the severity of things that are occurring right now, they seem to be just nagging little things, so hopefully they'll be recovering sooner rather than later."
The season series between the teams is tied 7-7. Chicago has lost seven straight season series to the Tigers.
