The Detroit Tigers welcomed back an old friend and hung tough with a first-place opponent, but couldn't find the go-ahead run they needed.
Despite a strong performance at the plate and on defense by Tigers catcher Eduardo Valencia, they fell 4-3 to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, Aug. 15, at Comerica Park in Detroit.
Tigers starter Troy Melton, their best pitcher this season, allowed three runs over 4⅓ innings, marking his shortest start of the season in a game marked by inconsistency and bad luck with missed defensive plays. It was just the second time in 14 starts this season Melton (7-1) has allowed at least three earned runs in a game. The nine hits allowed is a career-high for the second-year starter.
The game also featured the first appearance
for Chicago catcher Jake Rogers in a White Sox uniform, with the former Tiger getting a standing ovation during his first plate appearance.
The Tigers' offense for the second game in a row was paced by a rookie, with Valencia hitting an RBI single in the first inning and a solo home run in the fourth to keep the Tigers in step with the White Sox. Valencia also threw a runner out in the top of the ninth inning and represented the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but struck out looking in his final at-bat.
Tigers playoff race
The loss dropped the Tigers to 60-63. They are now 4½ games behind the first-place White Sox in the American League Central race. The Tigers dropped to a three-way tie for the final AL wild-card spot with Minnesota and Texas. Both teams played later Saturday.
On the mound
Melton gave up a leadoff double to left fielder Sam Antonacci in the top of the first inning and followed it with a walk to first baseman Munetaka Murakami. Two consecutive outs brought him close to escaping the first unscathed, but a two-out RBI single from right fielder Braden Montgomery gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead in a 26-pitch inning for Melton.
Rogers got his first plate appearance in the second inning with no one out and two runners on base, first receiving a standing ovation from the Comerica Park crowd. Rogers then attempted to bunt both runners into scoring position, but his attempt went straight to Melton, who spun around to throw second baseman Chase Meidroth out at third base as Hao-Yu Lee completed the double play by throwing Rogers out at first.
wowowowow 😯 pic.twitter.com/49khrwh439
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 15, 2026
The Tigers' defense making up for its own mistakes was a theme Saturday, with Murakami stretching a single into a double to lead off the third inning. A one out single from designated hitter Andrew Benintendi then moved Murakami to third after second baseman Gleyber Torres, who threw wide on a tough but makeable play, couldn’t get Benintendi out at first base.
Braden Montgomery then grounded into the rare 3-2-5-3 fielder’s choice when Torkelson picked up the grounder and caught Murakami in a rundown between third base and home plate, eventually having to hustle home and tag out a sliding Murakami to prevent a run from scoring. Melton looked like he was going to escape the inning before shortstop Colson Montgomery drove in two runs on a two-out double, giving the White Sox a 3-1 lead.
Melton gave up leadoff hits in all five innings he began, three of them doubles. His last one came in the fifth off a leadoff double to third baseman Miguel Vargas, and one batter later, Melton’s day was finished. He allowed three earned runs on nine hits over 4⅓ innings, raising his season ERA from 1.46 to 1.71, which would lead the majors if he qualified with enough innings.
Lefty reliever Drew Sommers got five outs in the fifth and sixth to keep the game tied at 3-3 entering the seventh, but another leadoff double from Antonacci and a one-out RBI single from Benintendi gave the White Sox a 4-3 lead. It was Sommers' longest outing of his career by batters faced (nine) and just the second time he has recorded six outs in an outing, as he was ultimately tabbed with the loss.
At the plate
Down 1-0 in the bottom of the first, the Tigers responded with a two-out RBI double from Valencia that plated Hao-Yu Lee from second base. It was Valencia’s fifth RBI in the last four games as the rookie continues to slug less than two months into his major league career.
Valencia struck again in the fourth inning with a leadoff solo home run, cutting the White Sox lead to one run. It was his sixth home run of the season and tied the franchise record for most home runs in the first 18 games to start a career, according to Stathead.
The Tigers tied the game in the fifth with back-to-back doubles from Corey Julks and Gleyber Torres, the first one dropping into the camera well in left field next to the foul pole and the second bouncing off the jagged wall in right-center field. Designated hitter Dillon Dingler had a chance to put the Tigers in the lead, but a hard line drive to Colson Montgomery turned into an inning-ending 6-4 double play when Torres couldn’t get back to second base in time for Montgomery’s throw.
BRAND NEW BALL GAME pic.twitter.com/cy84W7DEbE
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 15, 2026
Torres once again got a leadoff hit in the eighth inning, but it was to no avail as third baseman Hao-Yu Lee grounded into a double play that caught Torres in a rundown, with the Tigers ending the scoreless inning one batter later on a Dingler strikeout.
Next up
The Tigers take on the White Sox in their final matchup at Comerica Park this season on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1:40 p.m. on Detroit SportsNet. Tigers righty Drew Anderson (4-4, 3.91 ERA) is scheduled to pitch against White Sox righty Sean Burke (7-6, 2.99 ERA).
Need to catch up on the news during your lunch break? Sign up for our Sports Briefing newsletter to get daily summaries of Detroit sports!
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers fall further behind aggressive White Sox in MLB playoff race
