Avila, Verlander’s long-time batterymate, hit a majestic blast into the shrubbery above the center-field wall.The Tigers had plenty of traffic on the bases in the early going but hit into three double plays in the first four innings. The Tigers gave him the start at third base in his Major League Baseball debut.
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Avila is now 2-for-5 with a walk in two games against Verlander. This series couldn’t come at a better time, as the White Sox have won nine of 12 against the Twins this season.
Since the All-Star break, Verlander leads all qualified pitchers in WHIP (0.80), opponent OPS (.518) and strike percentage (69.5), according to ESPN Stats & Info. “They’re very excited to be there, they’re very excited to be in the game, very excited to be hitting or pitching and I think that is an aspect of it”, Ausmus explained. I think I gave him two or three. Other times he doesn’t look like he knows what the hell he’s doing. “We sat down and really talked about it before the game”. But the competitive nature that once lived within the confines of the same clubhouse has now reached across enemy lines.
“I don’t come here for the experience”, Sale said. Sale struck out Victor Martinez again but J.D. Martinez followed with a sharp single to left, making it 2-2.
Ian Kinsler broke out of a slump and helped the Detroit Tigers win Tuesday night.
“(Martinez has) been hot, too”, Avila said. He hit a good pitch. With two outs in the fourth, Abreu connected for his 19th homer of the year. Got him out in front, an eighth of an inch and it’s probably a weak ground ball to short. You have to give (Martinez) credit.
And that seems to be the theme with the Tigers lately.
They left more runs on the table, though. He’s batting.410 entering Wednesday’s game, but the most recent addition has been largely responsible for the last two wins.
No matter how the game played out, their efforts would have been worth it, but as it turns out Jones wound up going 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and two RBI. He almost blasted a walk-off home run to right on Wednesday, but it bounced off the wall high and settled for a double. His arrival injected a different sort of life into the lineup, one that sorely misses spark plug Cameron Maybin’s presence for however long he is ailing.
This will be the third game of the set.
The White Sox have a few interesting bats in their order. The team is just one game out of the second Wild Card spot and 4.5 games behind the Indians in the AL Central. But while that schedule gives the illusion of an easy finish, the Tigers still need to get Nick Castellanos, Mike Pelfrey, and Jordan Zimmermann back.
They may have been right. They lost another Chris Sale start, their second in a row and their fourth of the month.
“With Justin and him, it’s the kind of matchup you expect it to be”, Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “Just pick yourself up and be ready to win a ballgame tomorrow”.
“He’s been a real sparkplug for us, a shot in the arm especially in the last couple of games”, said Justin Verlander, who turned in yet another terrific start on Wednesday.
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NATIONALS 2, PHILLIES 1: Jayson Werth homered and Gio Gonzalez pitched six strong innings to lead Washington to a three-game sweep at Philadelphia.
