White Sox-Tigers: Game 59 Preview

Date: June 10, 2009

Time: 8:11 pm

Teams: Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox

Park: US Cellular Field

Weather: 64 and partly cloudy

Starting Pitchers: Justin Verlander (6-2, 3.26)  John Danks (4-4, 5.10)

Records: Detroit (32-26)  Chicago (27-32)

Last 10 Games: Detroit (5-5)  Chicago (3-7)

My Two Cents

This seems like a classic, over-confident game—kind of the opposite of last night. 

Heading into last night’s game, the pitching matchup was Dontrelle Willis and Mark Buehrle.  I thought the Tigers had about a 10 percent chance of winning that game. 

Tonight, the Tigers have a much better chance at winning.  Justin Verlander is pitching like a Cy Young candidate, while John Danks just can’t get on track.  In his last eight starts, Verlander is 6-0 with an ERA of 1.12.  Danks, on the other hand, is reverting back to his 2007 form, when he lost 13 games and finished with an ERA over 5.00. 

Over his last five starts, Danks has an ERA of 7.36 and has coughed up five home runs in just 25 innings.  He’s been decent in his career against the Tigers, with an ERA of 4.00 and a 2-1 record.

Verlander is 2-9 in his career against Chicago, with an ERA near 6.00.  He’s 0-6 in Chicago against the White Sox, but I still like his chances.