Down one everyday lefty (Munetaka Murakami) and forced to play platoon lefties against a southpaw in Framber Valdez, the White Sox needed one of their righties to step up.
Enter Edgar Quero, who helped the Sox capitalize against a vulnerable Valdez with a first-inning sac fly, then rode a rolling curveball out to left in the seventh inning, which reinvigorated the White Sox offense for a late surge that pushed the score out of reach.
"Feels amazing, especially today for my bobblehead [day]," said Quero, who mimed out some lower half adjustments in his swing at his locker. "Every time I face Framber, I think I get pretty good ABs and I feel comfortable. Was pretty comfortable today."
Anthony Kay delivered another helpful start, preserving the narrow margin with five-plus innings of one-run ball, and when Randal Grichuk committed a costly error to shorten Kay's afternoon, Grant Taylor cleaned up the mess. An early deployment of the White Sox's best relievers kept the Tigers in check, and they secured a series victory with a chance for a sweep on Sunday.
"Grant was as good as we’ve seen," said Will Venable. "He’s had some really special outings for us, where he’s got really good stuff. Today was one of those cases. He was able to cover two innings for us, which was huge."
There's an adage about good sinkerballers saying it's imperative to get them early, and Valdez lived that truth by needing only 48 pitches to complete innings 2-6. But the first inning was a battle, as he gave up a leadoff double to Chase Meidroth, then walked Miguel Vargas and Colson Montgomery to load the bases with nobody out. #WILDPITCHOFFENSE allowed Meidroth to score, and while Grichuk lined out to give Valdez footing to start a stretch where he retired 17 of 19, Quero was able to notch a productive out that at least converted a golden opportunity into a crooked number.
And while Valdez was able to work around a two-out double to Montgomery to end the sixth, he yielded a solo shot to Quero to open the seventh. From there, two White Sox lefties spoiled the quality start. Andrew Benintendi doubled, and although Valdez retired Luisangel Acuña and Sam Antonacci to put himself on the cusp of stranding the runner, Rikuu Nishida ripped a single through the right side to put a fourth run on Valdez's tab.
Beau Brieske then showed why A.J. Hinch was reluctant to pull Valdez, giving up a pair of homers to Montgomery and Benintendi in the eighth inning that made the finish a comfortable one for the 29,435 in attendance.
The margin was far narrower for most of the afternoon, and White Sox pitching held up. Kay gave up a homer to Wenceel Pérez in the third inning on a high four-seamer that Perez hacked just over the left-field wall, but that merely cut the White Sox's lead in half.
Kay encountered a couple other threats, but he gave no further ground. Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson strung together one-out singles in the fourth, but while Kay fell behind Jahmai Jones 3-0, he piped a fastball to get back in the count, and then Jones bounced a cutter to Montgomery for an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.
Kay once again made life tough for himself in the fifth when he gave up a single to Hao-Yu Lee, then walked ninth-hitting Zack Short to bring Kevin McGonigle and the top of the Detroit lineup to the plate. He was able to get inside on McGonigle for a 4-3 groundout, and similarly jammed Dillon Dingler with a fastball in for a 6-3 groundout that ended the inning.
"It’s really good," Kay said of his resurgent month of May. "It’s kind of what I’ve planned to do this whole time. Obviously, the first month wasn’t great but we bounced back good and hopefully we can keep it going."
Kay should've been able to last at least 5 ⅓, but after Matt Vierling legged out an infield single despite a splendid effort from Acuña, Riley Greene's routine fly to right clanked out of Grichuk's glove, and a replay review showed Vierling reaching second before Grichuk's accurate attempt to save face.
That's when Venable called for Taylor, who brought the good stuff. He struck out Torkelson on three pitches, got pinch-hitting Colt Keith to fly out, then gave Pérez nothing to hit over the course of six pitches. Pérez fouled off two pitches and reversed a strike three fastball that was outside, but one more well-located curveball produced a 4-3 groundout to officially extinguish the threat.
Taylor then struck out the side in the seventh, followed by Seranthony Domínguez pitching a 1-2-3 eighth, thanks in part to a diving catch by Antonacci on the left-field warning track for the first out. Once the Sox posted their three-run eighth, Trevor Richards could close it out.
Bullet points:
*Kay lowered his ERA in every single one of his six May starts. He came into the month at 6.12, and now he's at 3.77.
*Nishida made his first appearance in center field after Derek Hill was scratched with upper back tightness.
*The White Sox have won 15 of their last 18 at home, delighting their local Tarps Off chapter.
*Jacob Gonzalez didn't make his debut, but he did arrive despite a two-hour delay in his morning flight.
"I was just hoping they weren’t going to change their minds," Gonzalez said. "I was going to turn my phone off and stay on the flight."
Watching his new team's fourth-straight win from the dugout wasn't a bad way to spend his 24th birthday.
"Probably the best one so far, rather than the first one."
