Troy Melton gave the Tigers six innings of one-hit ball on Saturday, leading them to a 4-1 victory and a series win over the Chicago White Sox. Dillon Dingler and Jake Rogers both had great games by their respective standards, and contributions from Kevin McGonigle, Spencer Torkelson, James Outman, and Tyler Holton were key in this one. Kenley Jansen locked up his 485th save to finish this one off.
Things did not begin well for Troy Melton, but they would get much, much better after the first batter.
The second pitch of the game was a fastball on the inner half of the strikezone and Sam Antonacci lifted it to right field for a solo shot. Melton retired Miguel Vargas, Andrew Benintendi, and Colson Montgomery without difficulty from there, though the only thing he was commanding decently was the fourseamer early on.
Antonacci robbed Dillon Dingler of a flare single with a leaping grab at second base in the bottom half. That helped lefty Sean Newcomb to a 1-2-3 bottom of the first.
The White Sox continued to take their hacks at first pitches from Melton in the second, but it only led to two quick outs. Melton started to find the handle on his cutter and slider, but still had zero feel for the splitter. Braden Montgomery waited out a few errant splitters and drew a two-out walk. Jake Rogers tried to backpick him and Torkelson couldn’t handle the throw. Montgomery took second while Melton challenged the pitch correctly as Rogers was otherwise occupied. Rogers got the error despite the ball being right to Torkelson. It ultimately didn’t matter as Melton carved up Tristan Peters with a good curveball for a swinging strike three and his first strikeout of the game.
Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter, getting a rare start against a lefty, grounded out weakly in the bottom of the second, while in between them, Spencer Torkelson whiffed on a Newcomb fastball to strike out. The lefty wasn’t showing much beyond a good, well located fastball, but early on that was plenty.
Drew Romo flew out to start the third. Melton, trying to get inside on Antonacci, hit him, but Miguel Vargas flew out to center field, and Benintendi grounded out to first in another quick inning for Melton. The right-hander finished the third at 39 pitches.
Hao-Yu Lee flew out to right to open the bottom of the third and Jake Rogers took a called striked three. The White Sox had their bullpen warm as Newcomb was only scheduled to throw around 45 pitches, but things were going well, and Will Venable stuck with Newcomb against Zach McKinstry, who whiffed on 96 mph up to complete three perfect frames.
Melton got a weak fly out from Colson Montgomery to open the fourth, mixing in some good curveballs now. Grichuk bounced a cutter to McGonigle at third for the second out. Jacob Gonzalez bounced out to Lee at second just as Melton’s pitch count topped 50.
Will Venable did turn to RHP Tyler Davis in the bottom of the fourth. He walked Kevin McGonigle on four straight pitches, and the Tigers had the leadoff man on. Dillon Dingler got tied up with a good fourseamer and popped out on the first base side in foul territory. Vierling pulled a pair of two strike pitches just foul of third base, and battled his way back to 3-2 and through a 10 pitch AB before Davis yanked a fastball wide to issue a walk. Davis then fired three straight balls to Riley Greene. Greene swung at a fastball on the inner edge, pulling it foul, and then got jammed, blooping one to Montgomery at shortstop for the second out. That left it up to Torkelson, and Davis continued to be pretty wild, walking him on five pitches.
And so, Kerry Carpenter stepped into a perfect matchup for him, and Venable wanted none of it, turning to lefty Joe Rock instead. And after starting Carpenter with Newcomb facing him the first time, AJ Hinch now turned to fan favorite, Jahmai Jones. He fouled a ball off his shin and was in obvious pain, and then struck out on a slider that backed up and never broke into the zone as boos rained down from the crowd.
Good times.
James Outman took over for Jones, playing center field as Vierling moved over to right field. Melton got Braden Montgomery to open the fifth, but then walked Peters on four straight. That brought Chris Fetter out for a quick factory reset. It worked, as the right-hander carved up Romo with a nasty curveball for a swinging strike three and his second punchout. Melton fell behind against Antonacci, worked it back to 3-2, and then missed the lower outside corner to walk him. It was initially called a strike three, but Antonacci correctly challenged it. So it was Melton versus Vargas, and the Tigers’ starter came after him, blowing him away with 98 mph to strand both runners in the first stress of the outing.
Rock got a weak flyout to right from Lee in the bottom half, then a grounder from Rogers. McKinstry hung in there to draw a walk and turn the lineup over. Rock slung a pair of sliders in for strikes to get ahead of McGonigle, but the rookie eventually got a fastball and lined it up the middle for a single and the Tigers first hit of the game. Dingler followed suit, inside outing a fastball in and lining it for an RBI single to right field. McKinstry scored and McGonigle went first to third with ease. Tie ballgame. Vierling popped up a slider to shallow center field, and we were onto the sixth in a 1-1 game.
Melton was at 71 pitches to start the inning, so this was probably his final frame. Hao-Yu Lee made a nice diving stop to get Benintendi on a hard grounder to start things off. Melton dusted Colson Montgomery with a good slider for the second out, and then did the same thing to the right-handed Grichuk for his fifth strikeout of the game on his 84th pitch.
The breaking stuff really came around as the game progressed and they ditched the splitter. As usual, Melton’s strength is the mix of stuff he can throw, and the fact that he rarely makes a mistake over the middle. He issued three walks as a result, but only allowed one hit, Antonacci’s solo shot which started the game. He racked up 11 whiffs, getting one or more with six different pitches.
6.0 IP, ER, H, 3 BB, 5 K.
Riley Greene made an opposite field bid on a Rock slider as the lefty continued to pour them in, but it fell shy on the warning track for the first out of the bottom of the sixth. Torkelson got a sinker and smoked it to the wall in right center field for a one-out double. Outman got a breaking ball first pitch and torched a hard grounder through the right side of the infield for an RBI single. Nice job there, and the ball was thrown away by right fielder Braden Montgomery so Outman beat feet to second base. Lee lifted a deep sac fly to right field, allowing Outman to tag and take third, but that left it up to Jake Rogers. If I don’t sound confident there, it’s because I was not at all confident. Instead, Rock fired an 0-1 fastball in there and the Tigers backup catcher ripped an RBI single to left center field. 3-1 Tigers. That move to take second from Outman paid dividends.
Rock was clearly shook, and then Tigers fans decided to serenade the airwaves with Take Me Home, Country Roads, perhaps learning from the absolutely epic World Cup invasion of fans who know how to produce chants, sing songs together, and generally live it up. Of course, the John Denver staple has recently spread well beyond West Virginia and the Blue Ridge Mountains. As a result, Rock walked Zach McKinstry. Unfortunately, McGonigle smoked a line drive right to Gonzalez at first, ending the inning.
Tyler Holton took over in the seventh, and Venable pinch-hit Chase Meidroth in for Gonzalez. He bounced out, but Braden Montgomery bounced one down the first base line for a double. Junior Perez then hit for Tristan Peters. Holton carved him up with a backfoot cutter for the second out of the inning. Drew Romo grounded out to McGonigle, and that was that. Still 3-1 Tigers.
It was quickly 4-1 Tigers, because Dillon Dingler was up first against RHP Trevor Richards. A 1-1 fastball got vaporized 430 feet to straightaway center for the best catcher in baseball’s 17th home run of the season. DING DING.
Vierling, Greene, and Torkelson went in order from there, and we were onto the eighth with a 4-1 lead.
Hinch stuck with Holton against Antonacci, and the left-handed hitter ripped a leadoff single to right to open the inning. Vargas lifted a shallow fly ball to right field to Greene. The wind was blowing the ball toward the foul line, but Greene caught it and then dropped it on the transfer. Third base umpire Rob Drake thought otherwise and ruled a no catch, but Greene immediately fired to second to get Antonacci, who had no chance. Edgar Quero hit for Benintendi, and Holton popped him out to Lee at second. That left it to the dangerous Colton Montgomery, but Holton absolutely carved him up despite Rogers missing a call that should have been challenged. A sweeper that started at the shortstop’s head dropped in for strike three to end the top of the eighth.
Outman pulled another sharp grounder ball to the right side to open the bottom half against lefty Chris Murphy. Antonacci slid for it but couldn’t hang on, and it bounced away for a leadoff single. Lee flew out to center field, but Outman got a big jump and swiped second base easily. Rogers struck out, and McKinstry lifted a fly ball to center to end the inning.
So, it was Kenley Jansen time again. The big right-hander notched his 484th save on Friday night, but the three hitters he faced wouldn’t be seeing him again in this one.
Grichuk grounded out to McKinstry at shortstop to start the inning. Chase Meidroth dropped down a perfect bunt down the third base line on the first pitch he saw for a single. Jansen got right in Braden Montgomery’s kitchen, and he popped out to McGonigle. That left it to Perez, as the Tigers led Meidroth take second base. Jansen got a little wild and walked Perez, and no one liked that as Drew Romo came to the plate as the potential game-tying run, but he lifted a fly ball out to Outman to end the game.
Nice to get a series win. Melton and Dingler were great. Outman and Rogers had good games. Tyler Holton did a great job. And Jansen gets save number 485. The Tigers will hunt the sweep of their AL Central foes on Sunday.
RHP Keider Montero will take on a tough right-hander in Davis Martin at 1:40 p.m. ET on Sunday.
