This was always going to be a series the Tigers needed to win, but it was especially true given the way the Guardians have been sneaking up on the Tigers in the AL Central. Tonight they continued their quest against the White Sox after taking the first game of the series on Monday. Jack Flaherty was on the mound for the Tigers while Yoendrys Diaz got the call for the Sox. An almost one-hour rain delay put a literal damper on things, but eventually, things did get underway in Chicago.
The Tigers started out by going 1-2-3 in the top of the inning. The Sox then did the exact same thing in the home half, so it was a speedy way to get things going.
In the second, Spencer Torkelson was the first baserunner of the night with a one-out walk. Two outs followed, however, to leave him stranded. Flaherty, in fine form in the early innings, got the Sox out in order in the home half.
Dillon Dingler was hit by a pitch to start the third inning, but even another free bag couldn’t help the Tigers, who went down in order following the walk. Kyle Teel kicked off the home half with a single, then three outs in a row sent him back to the dugout, and things remained scoreless.
The free bases continued in the fourth as Kerry Carpenter was hit by a pitch. Riley Greene then doubled to put two runners in scoring position. A one-out sac fly from Wenceel Perez brought Carpenter home and put the Tigers on the board first. In the home half, the White Sox made a valiant effort against Flaherty. With two outs, Luis Robert Jr. walked, followed by an Andrew Benintendi single. But those two men on became two RISPs as a final flyout ended the inning.
In the top of the fifth, Dingler reached on a fielding error. Three outs followed, once again leaving him stranded. In the home half of the fifth, things started to go really, really badly. Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero singled back-to-back, then a Curtis Mead single scored the White Sox first run to tie the game. Mike Tauchman singled to load the bases. Flaherty finally got his first out of the inning. Colson Montgomery then singled to score two more runs. Luis Robert Jr. then singled, scoring one more. That was it for Flaherty, who lost most of the goodwill of his earlier dialled-in innings. Brant Hurter came in to replace him. Andrew Benintendi grounded into a force out to eliminate Robert Jr. Then Miguel Vargas and Kyle Teel got back-to-back walks with the Teel walk scoring yet another run. At the end of the fifth the Sox had batted around and scored five runs. Flaherty’s final line for the game was 4.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6 K on 86 pitches.
Tyler Gilbert came in to pitch for the Sox in the sixth. With one out, Riley Greene doubled, but two outs followed right on his heels. In the home half, Curtis Mead singled to start the inning. Things continued to look rocky as Tuachman walked. That was it for Hurter, who was replaced by Codi Heuer, who is no stranger to pitching at Rate Field. With one out, Montgomery reached on a fielder’s choice, but thanks to a throwing error by Heuer, all three runners stayed safe. Andrew Benintendi walked to bring in another run with two outs, but the Sox would have to settle for just the one run.
Andy Ibanez got things going in the seventh with a leadoff single that would set the tone for an exciting inning. Dingler then homered, with a little nudge of the glove assist from Robert Jr.
Mike Vasil then came in from the Sox bullpen. With one out, Colt Keith and Gleyber Torres got back-to-back singles, the Torres single getting a nice assist from literal second base. However two outs followed, so the Tigers would need to settle for just two runs and hope for another hustle inning. With one out in the home half, Quero hit a solo home run. With two outs, Tauchman singled, and that was it for Heuer, who was replaced by Tommy Kahnle. Lenyn Sosa singled, but Kahnle did manage to pitch out of the jam and get the final out of the inning.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth, so I guess so much for more hustle. In the bottom of the inning, with one out, Michael A. Taylor and Miguel Vargas got back-to-back walks. A wild pitch by Kahnle allowed both players to advance. With two outs, Quero singled to score two more runs. At the end of the eighth, the Sox were up 9-3.
Dingler got to first on catcher interference, giving the Tigers a little something to work with. Jake Rogers came in for Javier Baez and singled. Rogers advanced to second on defensive indifference. Colt Keith then homered, bringing three runs in. There were still no outs. Torres grounded out for the first out of the inning. Jahmai Jones grounded out, and while the call was reviewed (he was out) it also looked like Jones might have hurt himself trying to get to first; he looked fairly painful after he went past the bag. Riley Greene walked (honestly, he should have struck out, but a bad strike call really helped the Tigers here). Jordan Leasure came out of the Sox pen hoping to get the final out of the inning. He did just that, getting Torkelson out to end the game.