The White Sox won’t be easing Gavin Floyd back into the rotation in his return from a sore elbow; he’ll start Wednesday night in the third game of a four-game series against the rival Tigers.
The change pushes Francisco Liriano back to Friday, when he’ll face the Twins. By making the move, the White Sox are essentially saying they have more faith in Floyd right now, even though he won one of his last six starts before going on the DL.
The respective records of each against the Tigers certainly played a role in the White Sox’s thinking here. Floyd has faced Detroit twice this season and gone 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA. Last year, he was 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in three starts against them.
Liriano, on the other hand, has given up seven runs and walked nine in 7 1/3 innings versus Detroit this year. He was 1-2 with a 10.32 ERA against them last year.
The White Sox are currently two games up on the Tigers in advance of the series opener tonight. It looks like they’re battling for one postseason spot right now, given that there are a combined six teams with better records than either in the AL East and West.
