Tied with Miami for the worst walk rate in the league, the White Sox demonstrated more patience early. Ryan Goins and Jose Abreu took their walks in the first inning, and Jon Jay was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After Eloy Jimenez failed to put the ball in play with the bases loaded and one out, it was up to Skole in not wasting a golden opportunity for the White Sox.
Tigers starting pitcher Spencer Turnbull was on a limited pitch count coming off an injury. All Skole could muster is a shallow fly ball off the end of the bat. With shortstop Jody Mercer in pursuit, the ball got lost in the sun and found it’s way on the lawn. That stroke of luck gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Lucas Giolito had a good rhythm going early striking out JaCoby Jones and Niko Goodrum in the first. Racking up two outs in the second inning, and Giolito quickly got out of sync against the bottom of the lineup. Travis Demeritte, Victor Reyes, and Jake Rogers all hit singles to drive in Detroit’s first run.
White Sox were still up 2-1, but Giolito threw a hanging slider to Jones who took it out to right field for his 11th home run of the season tying up the game. Goodrum would follow with hitting a double and advanced to third base on Miguel Cabrera’s groundout to second base. After walking Brandon Dixon, Giolito got Castro to hit a comebacker to start the 1-6-3 double play and keeping the game tied.
Tim Anderson started the fourth inning against Tigers reliever Gregory Soto with a single through the left side of the infield. James McCann would follow with a double to right field to put the White Sox in prime scoring position again. Yolmer Sanchez drove in Anderson on a grounder to shortstop giving the Sox a 3-2 lead.
Soto would throw a wild pitch allowing McCann to move up to third base. Forcing another full count, Goins was jammed on an inside fastball, but it just floated far enough away from Mercer into shallow center field for an RBI single.
The fifth inning was similar to the second inning for Giolito. With one out, Jones hit a liner down the left-field line and rolled into the corner. Jimenez had difficulty getting the ball out, and it allowed Jones to hustle his way for a triple. After walking Goodrum, Giolito had to face Cabrera with runners on the corners. A few years ago, this situation would be one of the worst for any pitcher to face, but Cabrera is not that hitter anymore. On a 0-1 pitch, Cabera hit a chopper to Sanchez who started the 4-6-3 inning-ending double play and keeping the Sox lead at two runs.
In Giolito’s final frame, he allowed a leadoff triple to Dixon to turn up the pressure. Castro would pick up the RBI on a groundout to Sanchez, making it a 4-3 game. Giolito struck out Demeritte for the second out but gave up a single to Reyes which prompted Rick Renteria out of the dugout. Trying to gauge how his young starter was faring at the moment, Renteria elected to stick with Giolito. Facing Rogers, Renteria’s gamble was awarded after Giolito ends the inning with another strikeout. On 107 pitches, Giolito’s final line was 6 IP 8 H 3 ER 2 BB 8 K.
Taking over the seventh was Jimmy Cordero. A big opportunity for Cordero who was making his eighth appearance with the Sox since being called up from Charlotte. After a leadoff single that was initially wiped away on a double play hit by Jones, but was overturned as Skole’s foot was off first base on the turn. Cordero would strikeout Goodrum for the second out, but Cabrera hit a liner back up the middle for a single putting runner on first and second base. With Dixon at the plate, Cordero made quick work of him striking him out on three pitches with the final pitch clocked at 100 mph.
Tim Anderson hit a double to get things started for the Sox in the eighth inning. McCann on a 2-2 pitch struck a single to left field with Anderson motoring around third pushing the Sox lead back to two runs. The rally continued when Sanchez singled to center as both Goodrum and Mercer missed on their efforts to stop the baseball from getting through the infield.
Garcia dropped a bunt in front of home plate that moved both McCann and Sanchez into scoring position with one out. After Goins struck out, it was up to Abreu against Buck Farmer to cash in. A career 1-for-13 against Farmer, Abreu hit a slow chopper to Castro at third base. Making the throw off his back foot, Castro’s toss ended up being a worm burner across the diamond which allowed Abreu to beat it out for an infield single. McCann scored, and the Sox were up 6-3. They would add another run when Jay hit a single off the first pitch from Blaine Hardy dumping it to left field.
Even though the White Sox were up by four runs, Alex Colome did make an appearance, and it wasn’t a smooth experience. After giving up one run, Cabrera scared the White Sox with a deep fly ball to right field, but Ryan Cordell was able to run it down on the warning track for the final out.
Game Notes:
- Tim Anderson, James McCann, and Yolmer Sanchez served as the lineup anchor going 7-for-14 on the night with five runs scored.
- Ryan Goins was 1-for-3 with two walks which he saw a total of 32 pitches in his five plate appearances.
- After scoring only 44 runs in 22 games, the White Sox have scored 17 runs in their last two games.
Record: 49-61 | Box Score | Highlights
