White Sox veteran pitcher has worst start of 2017 season against division rival Tigers. South Siders bullpen has been overworked during this week.
The Chicago White Sox bullpen has seen a lot of work over the past week, and Friday wasn’t any different. Derek Holland who was starting against the Detroit Tigers lasted just 2 2/3 innings as he allowed eight earned runs on eight hits.
Detroit would rout the Sox 15-5 in the opening game of a three-game series at Comerica Park. Holland’s poor outing wasn’t bad just for him, but it also put more work on the Sox bullpen. Miguel Gonzalez was the last Sox pitcher to pitch more than six innings and this happened last Sunday against the Tigers when he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
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Since Sunday, the Sox have overworked their bullpen and it hurt the team badly on Friday. Although Holland departed before the end of the second inning, the Sox would give up another seven runs to the Tigers.
The Sox bullpen has been taxed this week due to short outings from the starting pitchers. David Holmberg, Jose Quintana and Mike Pelfrey each failed to pitch more than five innings. Quintana really put more work on the Sox bullpen with his worst start of the season on Tuesday. The Sox did have an off day this past Thursday, but Holland’s poor start on Friday put more pressure on the bullpen for the remainder of this series.
Gonzalez will start Saturday’s game against the Tigers. While he held Detroit to just three earned runs through 7 2/3 innings pitched, Gonzalez hasn’t had two consecutive quality starts since early May. The Sox will desperately need another long outing from Gonzalez as they end the series with Holmberg pitching on Sunday.
In his first start of the season on Memorial Day, Holmberg pitched four innings against the Boston Red Sox. The 25-year-old pitcher allowed three walks and three earned runs. Holmberg hasn’t pitched more than five innings since August 10, 2015 when he was with the Cincinnati Reds.
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The Sox are in the midst of another lengthy road trip, and their starting pitching has let the team down over the past few weeks. With Holland’s poor start, the Sox must hope Gonzalez can have a repeat performance against the Tigers on Saturday. If Gonzalez or Holmberg aren’t able to have long starts, there could be more lopsided defeats from the Sox this weekend.