Things went south for the Tigers in the South Side as they lost their series opener against the White Sox 3-1.
With less than two weeks left in the regular season, the Tigers opened a four-game series against the division rival White Sox in a series of games that could, surprisingly, actually matter a great deal. Despite dropping their final game against the Blue Jays earlier in the week, the Tigers had been on a red-hot run and were hoping to bring that luck back against the Sox, who have been struggling
of late. To get the job done, they had Framber Valdez on the mound, up against Erick Fedde on the mound for the White Sox.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the first. Chase Meidroth singled to start the home half, followed by a walk to Tommy Pham. If you missed the fun story from this week. Pham literally talked his way into being activated by making an elevator pitch to the team’s GM and hit a three-run homer in his first game back. Hopefully he got that out of his system for tonight. With two outs, Munetaka Murakami hit a three-run homer to put the White Sox in an early lead.
In the second, the Tigers went three-up, three-down again. In the home half… Jake Rogers apparently plays for the White Sox now? Hi Jake! He challenged a strike call, and it was a ball, giving him a leadoff walk. Three outs followed, though, putting the risk of another run to bed.
Max Clark was hit by a pitch to start the third. John Peck singled. Then, with one out, Kevin McGonigle walked to load the bases. Gleyber Torres grounded into a force out that allowed Clark to score, and Peck was out at third. The Tigers were now on the board with their first run of the night. Miguel Vargas got a one-out walk in the home half. Two outs followed, though, to leave him stranded.
Riley Greene kicked off the fourth with a single, then Spencer Torkelson walked. Two outs ended the inning with two men left on the bases, though. Brenton Doyle singled to start the bottom of the inning. Rogers struck out, but Doyle advanced to second on a passed ball by Dillon Dingler. Luisangel Acuna then reached on a fielding error by McGonigle. Braden Montgomery hit into a force out, eliminating Acuna for the second out of the inning. The Tigers got the final out of the inning and avoided any additional runs scoring.
With two outs in the top of the fifth, Torres singled. The only reason it wasn’t a double was a pretty great off-the-wall bare-handed catch by Grichuk. Dingler doubled, putting two runners in scoring position, so the White Sox dipped into their bullpen for Bryan Hudson, who got Riley Greene for the last out of the inning and cut off one of the Tigers’ best scoring opportunities of the night. Grichuk got a two-out walk in the home half, but the White Sox failed to capitalize on a baserunner.
Spencer Torkelson singled to start the sixth, but he tried to leg out a double and Grichuk once again played the spoiler, getting Torkelson out at second. It was a whopping five-pitch inning as the next two outs happened in quick succession. Valdez was done after five innings, with a final line of 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 8 K, 1 HR, on 90 pitches. That’s a lot of Ks for a guy whose bread and butter is inducing contact. A decent outing for him with a few moments of frustration. Jacob Waguespack came in to replace him. Brenton Doyler singled to start the home half, then stole second. But three consecutive outs put an end to any hopes of getting another run in.
Jordan Hicks came in for the seventh and pitched as if he had never met the zone, with some truly crazy pitches. McGonigle got a two-out single, then Torres walked. A flailing Hicks was swapped for Grant Taylor, who got the final out of the inning. Ty Madden came in for the Tigers in the bottom of the inning. He got the side out in order. One play was particularly delightful as Baez seemed to literally juggle a catch, bouncing it up several times before finally getting it in his glove. Ben Malgeri has never had more fun watching someone play.
With two outs in the eighth, Brett Callahan walked, and while the Sox did challenge it, the call on the field was confirmed. Max Clark singled, which led to a fairly dramatic moment in the game as Clark easily made it safely to first, but Callahan made a break for third and initially looked safe. The White Sox challenged both safe calls, and ultimately Clark was ruled safe at first, but Callahan was out at third to end the inning. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Murakami tripled. The Tigers got the next two outs to end the inning.
Colt Keith came in to pinch-hit for Baez with one out in the ninth. Keith ended up going for two ABS challenges, losing the first but winning the second on a full count to get a free pass to first. Keith got insanely lucky as McGonigle singled to Acuna, and Acuna didn’t even make a move towards second, throwing to first instead and getting zero outs in the process. Torres then grounded into a double play, though, ending the inning and the Tigers’ chances of a rally.
Final: White Sox 3, Tigers 1
