White Sox turn to Martin Perez in series finale vs. Tigers

After making a dazzling debut, Chicago White Sox left-hander Martin Perez will look to post back-to-back wins when he starts against the host Detroit Tigers on Sunday afternoon.

Perez (1-0, 0.00 ERA) held the Minnesota Twins without a hit for six scoreless innings while posting nine strikeouts on Monday in Chicago’s 9-0 victory. That was his highest strikeout total since he fanned nine Baltimore Orioles batters while pitching for the Texas Rangers on Aug. 3, 2022.

It was a dominant performance for the 34-year-old Perez, whose fastball topped out at 89.9 mph. Therefore, he relied on movement from his cutter, sinker and changeup to baffle the Twins.

Perez, who signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the White Sox in January, essentially took himself out instead of continuing to pursue the no-hit bid. He was gassed after throwing 93 pitches.

“I told them I feel great, but I was honest, too,” Perez said. “There’s no way I can go three more innings with that kind of pitches. It’s too early, and I think it’s a long season. So we have to think in the future, not now.”

White Sox manager Will Venable was glad that Perez chose not to take any risks.

“He’s done so much in his career, we just want to talk it through and give him the opportunity to at least discuss it,” Venable said. “But it was the right thing for him, the right thing for our club to kind of move on there.”

Perez has faced the Tigers 15 times, including 14 starts, posting a 2-5 record and a 5.09 ERA.

Highly touted rookie Jackson Jobe (0-0, 6.75 ERA) will start the series finale for Detroit. The 22-year-old right-hander was brought up from Triple-A Toledo late last season and pitched in relief during the playoffs.

He earned a spot in the rotation during spring training, but his first career start was spotty. He allowed only three hits in four innings to Seattle on Monday, but two of those hits were home runs. He also walked four while striking out three.

“It’s just a completely different atmosphere than spring training,” Jobe said. “There’s a whole different vibe to it. The game just means more than they do in spring. It’s tons of fun. Obviously, wish I’d go out there and go scoreless every time out, but that’s just not the reality of it. So take this start and learn from it and keep growing.”

Jobe’s four-seam fastball averaged 96.9 mph. He also has a cutter, changeup, curve and sinker in his arsenal.

“He’s got elite stuff, and he’s got to use it,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I think where they ambushed him, because he’s a strike thrower and they’re going to be very, very aggressive, and they didn’t care what the score was — you could tell from the first or second hitter what their plan was. So he’ll make some adjustments, be able to throw secondary pitches for strikes, and that will make his fastball better.”

Perez and Chicago’s relievers will try to cool off Detroit outfielder Kerry Carpenter. The Tigers have taken the first two games of the series with Carpenter blasting three homers. He had a solo shot on Saturday in the Tigers’ 7-2 victory.

The loss was the fourth in a row for the White Sox.

–Field Level Media