Tim Elko was having a rough day at the plate, striking out in three of his first four at-bats Thursday against the Detroit Tigers.
The Chicago White Sox first baseman made the most of another opportunity.
Elko drove in the winning run with a single to center in the 10th inning to lift the Sox to a 3-2 victory in front of 11,630 at Rate Field.
“My first few at-bats definitely weren’t my best, but you know in baseball you’ve got to have a quick memory and learn from your mistakes, then move on to the next one,” Elko said. “So I was able to just kind of put those in the past and focus on that last at-bat.”
With Elko’s walk-off hit, the Sox (20-43) earned a split of the four-game series against the Tigers, owners of the best record in the majors at 41-23.
“You continue to put yourself in those good spots, you’re going to get the results eventually,” manager Will Venable said. “And today’s a great example of that. We put ourselves in a position, playing good defense, pitching well. Continue to put ourselves in those spots and eventually you’re going to get good results.”
Starter Sean Burke aided in that effort, allowing two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk in a career-high seven innings.
“I thought I did a pretty good job of mixing everything in there,” Burke said. “Fortunately I was able to see some of the other guys throw this week against the Tigers and get a good gauge of what was working and what wasn’t working. Me and (catcher Edgar Quero) were talking during the week about some stuff and how to attack hitters and I feel like we ran off the game plan pretty well.”
The Sox took a 2-0 lead in the fourth behind an RBI sacrifice fly to left from Mike Tauchman and an RBI single from Chase Meidroth. The Tigers scored twice in the seventh on Wenceel Pérez’s solo home run and Dillon Dingler’s two-out bloop RBI single to right.
The game went to extra innings.
First baseman Tim Elko follows through on RBI single in the 10th inning to give the White Sox a 3-2 victory over the Tigers on June 5, 2025, at Rate Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The Tigers came up empty in the top of the 10th and began the bottom of the inning by intentionally walking Andrew Benintendi to give the Sox runners on first and second. Austin Slater moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt.
Elko, just recalled from Triple-A Charlotte on Wednesday, followed.
“Just put the ball in play,” Elko said of his approach. “We had a guy on third with one out, so get something in the air to the outfield or just through the infield. Just put something in play and give ourselves a chance to score.”
He swung and missed on the first-pitch slider from Beau Brieske. The next pitch was also a slider but over the plate. Elko connected, driving the ball back up the middle through the drawn-in infield.
“I don’t think I was seeing the ball the best today, but it’s just at-bat to at-bat, pitch to pitch,” Elko said, “so I was able to see at least what the slider looked like, and left one a little bit higher so I was able to put a bat on it.”
Korey Lee scored and the Sox celebrated in the infield.
“These guys just work so hard,” Venable said. “Any win is good for the guys, good for the group. We’re excited to get the result, and those guys deserve to celebrate.”
Luis Robert Jr. out again
For the third straight day, Robert did not play. The center fielder spent Tuesday and Wednesday working on adjustments at the plate. But he spent Thursday recovering after getting hit with a ball in the head during workouts.
“He was in the cage yesterday and was hitting and a ball actually ricocheted and hit him in the head,” Venable said before Thursday’s game. “So just give him, as a precaution, just one extra day. He’ll be fine back in there tomorrow.
“It was a good blow. But he’s fine, no concussion and will be in there tomorrow.”
In other pregame news, the Sox called up pitcher Owen White from Charlotte while optioning reliever Caleb Freeman to the Knights. White, 25, is 0-5 with a 5.24 ERA and 36 strikeouts in nine starts with Charlotte. The Sox claimed the right-hander off waivers from the New York Yankees on Feb. 17.
Originally Published: June 5, 2025 at 6:44 PM CDT