The White Sox had this one in hand. Then Detroit ripped it away in a hurry.
Chicago watched an 8-2 lead disappear in an 11-8 loss as the Tigers scored nine unanswered runs, with five of them coming in the eighth inning against Sean Newcomb and Bryan Hudson. The result landed hard for the South Siders and knocked them off the grip of the AL Central lead.
The turning point came in that eighth. Hao-Yu Lee tied the game with a home run off Newcomb, Dillon Dingler followed with a single that brought home the go-ahead run after Gleyber Torres was picked off first base by Hudson, and Riley Greene capped the burst with a two-run homer off Hudson.
The White Sox had built their cushion immediately, piling up six unearned runs in the first inning. That rally started with three walks, a hit-by-pitch, a wild pitch and two Detroit errors. Colson Montgomery delivered the big swing with a bases-clearing double down the right-field line, and Miguel Vargas kept it moving with an RBI double.
Vargas struck again in the third, turning on a two-run homer to match Munetaka Murakami for a team-best 32 home runs and push Chicago ahead 8-2. From there, though, Detroit started chipping away.
Kevin McGonigle cut into the lead in the fifth, tripling home three runs off starter David Sandlin. The play also cost Chicago outfielder Tristan Peters, who crashed into the right-center-field wall trying to make the catch and was replaced by Braden Montgomery.
Hagen Smith kept that inning from getting worse, stranding McGonigle at third and striking out Dingler, Greene and Spencer Torkelson. And in the seventh, Montgomery flashed the kind of defense that seemed like it might preserve the lead for good when Javier Báez sent a sinking liner to right off Newcomb. Montgomery trapped it, popped up quickly and fired a strong throw to the plate to cut down Greene and end the inning.
It didn’t hold. Detroit poured in five runs in the next inning to finish the comeback and even the four-game series.
In Other News...
White Sox Could Undo Part Of Their Deadline Work This Winter
The White Sox are heading into another winter of hard roster calls, and this one could cut into some of the work they did at the deadline. With several arbitration-eligible players on the books, the club has a handful of cases to sort through, and the conversation is already drifting toward who fits long term and who might be replaced before the offseason really gets rolling.
Among the names in the mix are catcher Joey Bart, outfielder Brenton Doyle and reliever Huascar Brazoban, all recent additions who came with their own set of performance questions. Non-tendering any of them would not be a shocking development, but it would also mean parting with players acquired in the hope they could help stabilize the roster, leaving the front office to decide whether those spots are worth a reset or another roll of the dice. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Future At Rate Field Just Got More Complicated
The questions around Rate Fields long-term future only grew more pointed at a public meeting there this week, where the Illinois Sports Facility Authority tried to address two fronts at once: the White Soxs lease situation and Amtraks plans for a maintenance facility that would require part of Lot G. Chair Leslie Darling and CEO Frank Bilecki both stressed the authoritys priority remains keeping the White Sox in the community, even as the ballparks surrounding footprint becomes more complicated to manage.
ISFA also laid out broader thinking for Rate Field and its parking lots, including the possibility of redevelopment and other events, but the looming lease issue still shapes every conversation. The authority acknowledged it needs an anchor tenant to make any long-range plan work, while also recognizing Amtraks need for access and parking tied to the new facility. That leaves the Soxs home situation in a more uncertain place than before, with the calendar and the land around the ballpark both starting to matter more. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Already Have A Deadline Problem They Can't Ignore
The White Sox brought Luis Castillo in at the deadline to help shore up a rotation that needed answers, but for now the plan is shifting in a different direction. Manager Will Venable said Castillo will be used out of the bullpen, a sign that Chicago is trying to find any workable path while the rookie David Sandlin is lined up to start the next game against Detroit.
It is a revealing turn for a move that was supposed to stabilize the staff, especially after Castillo arrived from Seattle with the expectation he could help cover innings at the back end of the season. Instead, the early returns in Chicago have been bumpy, with performance issues and a dip in velocity forcing the White Sox to rethink how they can get the most out of him in the short term. [Read more 🡒]