The Tigers looked buried early in Chicago, then turned Friday night into one long rescue mission.
Down 6-1 after one inning and 8-2 after three, Detroit kept hanging around, kept getting traffic on the bases, and finally cracked the game open in the late innings for an 11-8 win over the White Sox on the south side. The bullpen helped keep the door cracked just enough for the comeback to happen, and the Tigers’ offense did the rest.
Andrew Sears had a rough one in his third start and fifth appearance of the season and of his career. The rookie right-hander had already shown both sides of the coin this year, but this start got away from him in a hurry, even though not every run on his line was his fault.
Detroit actually struck first. In the opening inning, Colt Keith reached with a two-out hustle double to left, never slowing down around first, and then scored from second on a wild pitch that Sox catcher Kyle Teel couldn’t corral.
The White Sox answered with a bizarre bottom of the first. After two walks and a routine ground ball that Gleyber Torres couldn’t handle at second, the bases were loaded with two outs.
Sears then uncorked a wild pitch to bring in the tying run, a hit-by-pitch reloaded the bases, and a bobble on a grounder to Hao-Yu Lee led to another run. Colson Montgomery followed with a bases-clearing double to right, Tristan Peters drew a walk as the ninth batter of the inning, and that ended Sears’ night.
Beau Brieske came on and limited the damage some, but Miguel Vargas still added a double to make it 6-1 before Riley Greene and Kevin McGonigle teamed up to throw Peters out at the plate.
Detroit chipped away in the third when Eduardo Valencia doubled to start the inning, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a McGonigle single. But Vargas answered with a two-out homer off Brieske in the bottom half, pushing Chicago ahead 8-2 and leaving the Tigers with a steep climb.
Brant Hurter took over in the fourth and gave Detroit a steadier hand. The Tigers started to scratch back again in the fifth, with Max Clark drawing a walk, Valencia and Lee singling to load the bases, and McGonigle delivering a deep drive to center for a three-run triple.
The play also ended with Peters crashing hard into the vertical support in right-center, and he left the game. Hurter finished the inning after Tyler Kinley later relieved him and got Vargas to fly out.
In the sixth, Clark singled with one out and eventually scored on a hard-hit double from Lee, trimming the margin to 8-6.
Then came the seventh, when the game started tilting. Greene and Spencer Torkelson walked with two outs, and after pinch-hitter Brett Callahan was announced, AJ Hinch went to Javier Báez. Báez singled to right, and Greene tried to score from third, but Braden Montgomery’s throw cut him down at the plate.
The real damage came in the eighth. Sean Newcomb hit Valencia with a pitch, Lee stepped in, and he crushed a fastball at the top of the zone over the right-field fence to tie the game at 8.
McGonigle walked, Bryan Hudson entered, and a wild pitch moved him up. Torres then singled, and after John Peck pinch-ran for him and was picked off, Dillon Dingler came through with a single to right that scored McGonigle and put Detroit in front 9-8.
Greene finished the job in emphatic fashion, launching a two-run homer to right to make it 11-8. Torkelson followed with a single, which was the end of Hudson’s outing, and Trevor Richards came in to get Báez swinging at a slider in the dirt for the third out.
Sommers was sharp behind the comeback, working the seventh and eighth and striking out the side in the eighth. In the ninth, Lee added his fourth hit of the night from the nine spot, but he was left stranded.
Kenley Jansen handled the bottom of the ninth, pounding the zone against the heart of Chicago’s order and getting a pair of popups and a strikeout to seal the win.
Riley Greene entered the game hitting .284, which ranked fifth in the American League.
Old Friend™ Jahmai Jones came into the night hitting .137 with a .440 OPS, two homers and 105 plate appearances for the Tigers, while with the Red Sox he was at .347 with a 1.111 OPS and three homers in 59 plate appearances.
On this day in 1990, Liechtenstein became a member of the United Nations.
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The larger problem is what has surrounded him: Detroit has blown 32 saves and dropped a stack of close games, turning nearly every ninth inning into another reminder of how thin the margin has been. Jansen is closing in on 500 career saves, but that milestone may not arrive this season, and the Tigers still have a $12 million option on him for 2027 that adds another layer to how this stretch might be judged. [Read more 🡒]