Sean Burke ends White Sox's starter drought in critical win over Tigers

Sean Burke pitched six innings, allowing one run on five hits, three walks and five strikeouts as the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. According to Jim Margulus of Sox Machine, Burke is the first White Sox starter to pitch six innings in the last 27 games, including Saturday.

Burke also pitched six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts as the White Sox beat the New York Mets 6-4 on Aug. 21. That was the last time a White Sox starter pitched six innings. The lack of White Sox starters going deeper into games has stressed the bullpen. 

The White Sox took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Detroit tied it with their only run in the top of the fifth before the White Sox went ahead for good in the bottom of the inning. The White Sox added another run in the bottom of the sixth to close the scoring. 

Burke threw 97 pitches and faced the minimum of nine batters through the first three innings on Saturday. Detroit first threatened to score in the fourth inning with two singles, but both runners were stranded. Detroit had six batters in the fifth and another half dozen in the sixth, but all three runners were left on base.