Lance Lynn will make his final tune-up start before the postseason when the Chicago White Sox host the Detroit Tigers on Friday night to open a three-game series.
Lynn (10-6, 2.72 ERA) has been a key component of the Chicago rotation this season. He has 172 strikeouts in 152 innings, and opponents are hitting only .208 against him.
The 34-year-old is lined up to start the first game of the American League Divisional Series for Chicago (91-68), which already has clinched the AL Central title.
“We knew coming up in the system with the Cardinals that he had all the non-pitching pieces that you look for as far as a leader type,” said White Sox manager Tony La Russa, who first managed Lynn in St.
Louis. “Competitor, anxious to learn.”
Lynn will try to bounce back after giving up six runs on seven hits in six innings in his most recent outing, Saturday against the Cleveland detik Indians. He walked none and struck out six but was stung by a pair of home runs.
This will be Lynn’s ninth career start against the Tigers.
He is 5-3 with a 3.35 ERA vs. Detroit, having walked 16 and struck out 55 in 48 1/3 innings.
This year, Lynn is 2-0 in two meetings with the Tigers, yielding one run on four hits in six innings each time.
Detroit (76-83) hopes to finish the season on a positive note despite facing a long offseason. The Tigers are coming off a 10-7 win over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night in Minneapolis, a result that snapped a four-game losing streak.
Niko Goodrum hit two homers and drove in four runs in the victory.
Jonathan Schoop added his 22nd home run of the season.
The Tigers will turn to right-hander Wily Peralta (4-4, 3.08 ERA) in the series opener at Chicago. Peralta is looking to recover from a bumpy outing on Sunday against the Kansas City Royals, who tagged him for two runs on eight hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings.
He fanned three.
Peralta is 1-0 with a 4.11 ERA in 11 career appearances (one start) against the White Sox. This will be his first start against Chicago since 2015, when he limited the White Sox to two runs on six hits in six innings but came away with a no-decision as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers.
The last weekend of the regular season offers the Tigers’ younger players a chance to make a final impression heading into the offseason. One such player is 25-year-old relief pitcher Jason Foley, who has a 2.61 ERA in 10 1/3 innings.
“I hope he’s learning that his stuff inside the strike zone is really effective,” Tigers manager A.J.
Hinch said. “His stuff is good enough. I’ve said this to him a couple times in the dugout after outings where he’s sprayed the ball a little bit, that your stuff is good enough. You just have to keep reminding him that, ‘Your stuff is good enough.'”
The White Sox are 10-6 against the Tigers this season, having outscored Detroit 91-61.
–Field Level Media