White Sox 8, Tigers 1: Tyler Alexander scuffles as Tigers drop series

The Detroit Tigers offense went quiet against noted ace... [checks notes] Ivan Nova, notching just five hits in eight innings against the veteran right hander in an 8-1 loss against the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park on Wednesday afternoon. Lefthander Tyler Alexander wasn’t at his best, allowing five runs (four earned) in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings, and suffered his third consecutive defeat.

Thanks to a pesky little thing called a day job, I didn’t catch most of this game, and by the time I was able to tune in, everything was just about settled. So, instead of giving you a blow-by-blow recap — spoiler alert: the game sucked — let’s just hit the big picture items.

• Alexander struggled again in this one, giving up the aforementioned five runs on nine hits. This is the third consecutive outing he has allowed at least eight hits. He gave up another five batted balls at 100 miles per hour or more, and two additional balls in play at 95+ mph. That brings his total of 95+ mph balls in play to a whopping 45 through his first five starts.
• Travis Demeritte ruined the shutout (and my narrative) with a ninth inning triple to score Victor Reyes and give the Tigers their lone run of the game.
• Trevor Rosenthal did his usual thing, walking a pair of batters in the eighth before giving way to Blaine Hardy. Both inherited runners scored.
• Jordy Mercer had a pair of hits, but was still the Tigers’ biggest negative in terms of win probability added (WPA) because he grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the second. It was one of four the Tigers grounded into on the afternoon, but the most costly, as the Tigers were only down 2-0 at the time.
• Travis Demeritte singled, Jake Rogers walked, and the Tigers had zero extra-base hits.
• Eduardo Jimenez struck out three and allowed a run in 2 ²⁄₃ innings of work. He threw 52 pitches, and might be a candidate to get sent down after the game for some more bullpen help.
• Brandon Dixon threw a scoreless inning in relief and, by definition, was the Tigers’ most effective pitcher on the day.