Chi. White Sox White Sox vs Detroit Tigers Picks and Predictions August 25th 2024

The Tigers and White Sox face off in an AL Central matchup at 2:10 PM ET at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. The money line odds have the Tigers as the favorite, with their payout sitting at -143, while the White Sox are the underdog at +120. The over/under line is currently at 9 runs.

Jonathan Cannon will be starting for the White Sox, and he will be looking to help them snap a two-game losing streak. The Tigers are starting Beau Brieske, and they are 64-66 this season, putting them 4th in the AL Central. Chicago is 5th in the division with an overall record of 31-99. NBCS will be televising Sunday’s Tigers vs. White Sox matchup.

Detroit is sending right-hander Beau Brieske to the mound today as he faces the White Sox on the road. Brieske has made six starts this year and has a record of 2-3 with an ERA of 4.24. In his 31 appearances, he has a WHIP of 1.35 and is averaging 10.03 strikeouts per nine innings. Brieske most recently pitched on August 21st vs. the Cubs, where he went two innings, giving up one hit and issuing a walk. He didn’t give up a run in that outing and finished with a no-decision. Before that, he had given up a homer in three straight outings.

Over his last eight games, Colt Keith has gone 12/33 for the Tigers, including one home run and five RBIs. For the season, he is batting just .258, but his recent hot streak has helped move him up the team’s home run and RBI leaderboards. Riley Greene has also been a good power source for the Tigers, as he is batting .263 with a team-high 18 homers and 55 RBIs.

As a team, the Tigers are 20th in scoring at 4.2 runs per game and are also near the bottom of the league in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. They are also just 19th in home runs. Detroit’s offense is also coming into the game with a few cold bats, as Javier Baez, Kerry Carpenter, and Trey Sweeney all have batting averages of .214 or worse in their last four games.

White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon has made 14 starts this year and has a record of 2-7 with an ERA of 4.26. In his 16 appearances, Cannon has turned in six quality starts and is coming off a rough outing vs. the Giants, where he gave up five earned runs in six innings of work. He took the loss in that outing. Before that, he had given up just one earned run in three straight starts. Cannon’s ERA at home is 3.35 compared to 10.06 on the road.

Chicago’s offense is really struggling right now, as they are last in the league in home runs and are averaging just 3.1 runs per game, which is also the worst mark in the league. Looking at their team batting stats, they are also near the bottom of the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. Luis Robert Jr. has been swinging a hot bat of late, going 15/38 in his last nine games, with two homers and six RBIs.

Robert Jr. is tied for the team lead with 14 homers, while Andrew Vaughn also has 14 homers but has a better batting average at .243 compared to Robert Jr.’s .225 mark. Vaughn is also on a three-game hitting streak coming into the game.

White Sox Teeter on the Brink of a Historic Low

The Chicago White Sox are staring down a potential franchise low point, and it could arrive as soon as Sunday afternoon when they host the Detroit Tigers. With 99 losses already on the season, the White Sox are just one defeat away from their 100th loss—a milestone that would mark back-to-back triple-digit losing seasons for the first time in the team’s 124-year history. This season has been a tough one to swallow for the White Sox, who last hit the 100-loss mark only five times, most recently with 101 defeats in 2023.

White Sox in Freefall

Since the All-Star break, the White Sox have been in a tailspin, posting a bleak 4-28 record, including a rough 1-7 showing against the Tigers in 2024. Saturday’s 13-4 beatdown by the Tigers dropped Chicago to a franchise-worst 68 games under .500, underscoring the team’s ongoing struggles as they inch closer to an unwanted milestone.

“We’re not playing our best ball, but we’re trying to get to that point where we’re playing our best ball,” said interim manager Grady Sizemore, summing up the team’s tough stretch.

Despite the loss, the White Sox saw some silver linings on offense. Corey Julks, Luis Robert Jr., Lenyn Sosa, and Andrew Vaughn—the top four in the lineup—combined to go 9-for-19 with four RBIs. Dominic Fletcher also chipped in with two hits, making it five players with multi-hit games for Chicago. However, their offensive efforts weren’t enough to overcome the pitching and defensive issues that have plagued them all season.

Tigers’ Balanced Attack

The Tigers matched the White Sox hit-for-hit, racking up 14 hits in the game. Jake Rogers led the way, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs, while Matt Vierling, Colt Keith, and Zach McKinstry each homered, helping the Tigers overpower the struggling White Sox.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch highlighted the importance of having a deep lineup that can consistently deliver solid at-bats. “One of the goals is to create an offense where one-through-nine we feel pretty good about what we can do to put up good at-bats,” Hinch said. “The results will follow, and sometimes they’ll be good nights, sometimes they won’t. But the buy-in from the players and the work done behind the scenes with the coaches is [something] I’m very, very proud of.”

Tigers Eye .500 Mark

The Tigers have quietly improved, winning five of their last seven games to move within two games of the .500 mark. Although Detroit sits 8.5 games out of the final American League wild-card spot, the team hasn’t lost its focus or drive.

With three games remaining against the Kansas City Royals in mid-September, the Tigers are determined to keep pushing forward, even as a wild-card spot remains a long shot.

Pitching Matchup: Brieske vs. Cannon

On Sunday, the Tigers will send right-hander Beau Brieske (2-3, 4.24 ERA) to the mound to start a bullpen game. Brieske has been solid in August, boasting a 1.69 ERA in seven appearances across 10 2/3 innings. He’s also had success against the White Sox, with a 1.00 ERA in three games, including one start over nine innings.

The White Sox will counter with rookie right-hander Jonathan Cannon (2-7, 4.26 ERA), who has hit a rough patch recently, losing his last two starts. Cannon is looking to bounce back after the worst start of his young career, which came against Detroit on June 23 when he allowed eight runs (five earned) on seven hits in just one-plus inning.

The Road Ahead for the White Sox and Tigers

As the White Sox prepare to face the Tigers on Sunday, they’re hoping to avoid their 100th loss and prevent further deepening of what has already been a historically bad season. Meanwhile, the Tigers are focused on continuing their upward trend and inching closer to the .500 mark—a goal that’s still within reach as they build toward the future. The outcome of Sunday’s game will be pivotal for both teams, though for very different reasons.

Our lean in this Tigers vs. White Sox matchup is to take the Tigers to win straight-up. We also have this as the 3rd highest-scoring game of the day and the 2nd highest in terms of hits. As for an over/under pick, we would lean towards the over. Looking at today’s starters, we have Beau Brieske as the 15th best strikeout option compared to Jonathan Cannon for the White Sox, who is 16th.