Let's Play Two! Game Preview(s)

• Date: June 8, 2009
• Times: 2:05 and 8:11pm
• Teams: Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox
• Park: US Cellular Field
• Weather: Mid-70s with a 30-40% chance of rain
• Starting Pitchers: Armando Galarraga (3-6, 5.31) vs. Clayton Richard (2-1, 3.97) and Jeremy Bonderman (1st start) vs. Jose Contreras (0-5, 8.19)
• Records: Detroit (30-25)  Chicago (26-30)
• Last 10 Games: Detroit (4-6)  Chicago (5-5)
• My Two Cents

This double header is the start of a five-game series in Chicago.  The Tigers have had all kinds of trouble against the White Sox the past few years and I just don’t feel like getting into it right now. 

We know the history.  We know what the middle of that lineup does to Tigers pitching.

The White Sox offense comes into this game struggling a little bit.  They have been shutout in three of their last six games. 

However, they’ll get to take their cracks at Armando Galarraga, who hasn’t really pitched all that well since April, and Jeremy Bonderman, who is making his first big league appearance in over a year. 

Luckily for the Tigers, they appear to be facing some hittable pitchers. 

Pretty much every form of media has Jose Contreras starting game two tonight, but there are mixed reports on who will pitch in game one.  At 9:53am, ESPN had Clayton Richard starting, so that’s what I’m posting. 

Contreras started against the Tigers back on April 15th and gave up 5 runs in 5.1 innings.  He is 8-9 in his career with an ERA of 4.75 against the Tigers.

Miguel Cabrera is 8-15 in his career against Contreras.

Other sites and stations have Mark Buehrle on the hill for the Sox.  I guess it doesn’t really matter since the Tigers will see just about every player the Sox have in this marathon series. 

Clayton Richard has pitched only a third of an inning against Detroit in his career, so we don’t really have a lot to go on there.

So, what’s an acceptable result in this series?  Would two out of five make you feel okay?  I think 2 out of 5 would be acceptable, with anything else being a cherry on top. 

The Tigers just don’t play well against the Sox, and as long as they hold their own this week, I think that would be okay.