At least this year, a big part of the "Ricky's Boys Don't Quit" lore is that Ricky's Boys don't hit starting pitching all that well. They entered the game with a better line against relievers (.244/.343/.430) than starters (.251/.307/.417), especially the first time through the order.
That held firm today, as the White Sox made a game of it with a three-run eighth, but long after Daniel Norris carved them up through five. The Tigers, on the other hand, scratched single runs over the course of the afternoon, and Gordon Beckham's seventh-inning homer off Jose Ruiz ended up making the difference.
The Sox only had two hits through the first seven innings, so it could've been a really sleepy Easter. A couple of weak groundouts started the eighth, but Ryan Cordell legged out an infield single behind third despite Jeimer Candelario's best effort, and Yolmer Sánchez pulled a single through the left side. Up came Leury García, who managed to roll a full-count changeup through the right side to put the Sox on the board.
Victor Alcantara came in to get the advantage over Tim Anderson, but he squandered it twofold. First, he threw a wild pitch to score Sánchez. Then Anderson got the hands in on a 1-2 sinker and muscled it into short left field for an RBI single that made it a 4-3 game.
Alas, Jose Abreu grounded out to end the inning, and Shane Greene retired the side in order in the ninth, including Yoan Moncada's first backwards K of the year. It was a well-located backdoor slider, so there's no shame in that 20 games into the season.
The bigger problem was the lack of activity against Norris. He allowed a first-inning double to Abreu and a second-inning single to Moncada, and then a 10-pitch walk to Anderson. Otherwise, he struck out five Sox his first time through the order, and wrapped up his start with six strikeouts over five shutout innings.
Reynaldo López took the loss, and he deserved better. He threw a quality start, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and no walks, striking out eight. He was a little wild inside the zone, especially with fastball location, and occasionally that burned him.
His bigger problem was poor outfield defense. You can pin the first run on him, as Candelario tripled with one out in the second and scored on a flared single. The second run, not so much. Eloy Jiménez took an iffy route and made an awkward sliding attempt on Nicholas Castellanos' double that bounced on the warning track and over, and he scored after challenging Jiménez's arm on a Miguel Cabrera single.
In the sixth, Castellanos scored because García dropped his line drive in center to start the inning. He moved to second on the play, then scored on Niko Goordum's double to make it 3-0. Jose Ruiz then took over in the seventh and gave up a solo shot to Beckham, who kept a high, center-cut 2-1 fastball inside the left-field foul pole for the decisive fourth run.
Bullet points:
*Jiménez's fourth inning was an eventful one. After the double and the single hit in his direction, he tumbled into the stands after making a catch down the line.
*The basepaths were active, for better or worse for both teams. For the Sox, Anderson stole two bases -- once after a pickoff -- but Moncada was cut down. For Detroit, Anderson cut down Brandon Dixon at second after his muscled RBI single over the head of Moncada, while García and Sánchez teamed up to throw out John Hicks trying to stretch a double into a triple.
*The Sox have struggled against Norris in six chances, only reaching 23 times over 26⅓ innings, and his ERA is down to 2.05.
Record: 8-12 | Box score | Highlights
