Chicago ― On a wind-whipping day in this aptly nicknamed city, the work day was a breeze for Troy Melton.
Melton, a rookie right-hander making his third major-league start, retired the first 12 White Sox batters he faced and then, working with practically no margin for error, got even nastier after allowing his first and only hit to help lift the Tigers to a 1-0 win on Wednesday afternoon in the series finale at Rate Field.
Sawyer Gipson-Long, just off the injured list, Kyle Finnegan and Will Vest finished things off for the Tigers, who allowed just two hits on the day in winning their second consecutive series.
The Tigers became the third major-league team to reach 70 wins, after the Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays.
“Take your pick, go through our whole pitching,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said after the game, eager to hand out some kudos. “And we needed it, obviously. It took one run to win today, it took 27 outs, and we took all of them. Our guys came in and continued to get really good outs.
“It was awesome to see on the mound.”
Less than awesome was the Tigers’ offense, which did just enough in taking two of three in the series ― they scored three runs, total, in the two wins, Monday and Wednesday.
Wednesday’s lone came on a sacrifice fly from Wenceel Perez off White Sox reliever Martin Perez, who came off the IL before the game, in the sixth inning. The Tigers could’ve scored more in the inning, but center fielder Luis Robert Jr. made a fine running catch. The Tigers scored just the one run, despite loading the bases with nobody out.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 1, White Sox 0
Carpenter led off the inning with his second hit, a single off just-into-the-game Martin Perez (1-2) ― Carpenter’s 10th hit off a left-hander in his 43rd at-bat this season. Spencer Torkelson doubled and Riley Greene walked, before Wenceel Perez broke the scoreless tie.
“We didn’t get rewarded for all of our at-bats today, but we did get just enough,” Hinch said. “I mean, obviously, I’d rather talk about what we did (instead of what we didn’t), which is win a series and find a way to scratch and claw.”
The Tigers had a runner on in each of the first five innings off White Sox starter Shane Smith, with two singles and three walks, but none of those runners got past first base.
Smith, another rookie right-hander, nearly matched Melton (3-1), frame for frame, allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out five in five scoreless innings.
Meanwhile, Melton needed just 41 pitches to get through the first four innings, perfectly. Of those 41 pitches, 31 were strikes ― a day after Tigers pitchers walked seven in Tuesday’s 9-6 loss, a game which took more than an hour longer to play than Wednesday’s snappy, getaway-day affair.
“It was huge. We needed that start, really bad,” catcher Jake Rogers said after Wednesday’s game. “It’s about as good as you can get, you know, from a guy that has been bouncing (around), starter to bullpen and then wanting him to kind of open today and see kind of where he went.
“Yeah, we needed that, and that was huge for him.”
Hinch didn’t tell Melton until late Tuesday night that he was going to get the start Wednesday. Hinch didn’t know what to expect ― an inning, maybe three. Melton ended up getting through five, with zero stress at all until that fifth inning.
Robert led off the fifth with a double to right-center, but he never moved from there. Melton struck out Andrew Benintendi on three pitches, finishing him off with a slider.
Melton then threw a first-pitch ball (his first and only one of the game) to Miguel Vargas.
Rogers made a quick mound visit, with a message for his 24-year-old pitcher.
“Just slowing me down,” Melton said of the quick conversation.
Said Rogers: “I just told him to, you know, keep calm, keep doing what he’s doing.”
Melton, knowing the fifth was almost certainly his last inning, then struck out Vargas on a fastball before finishing the inning with a third straight strikeout, of Edgar Quero on a slider. Making his first start since July after working out of the bullpen his last two outings, Melton was done at 56 pitches, having allowed just the one hit while striking out six.
Melton worked almost exclusively ahead in the count, with first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 16 batters he faced; he never went to a three-ball count in his third start for the Tigers this the season, and second in which he allowed no runs.
He took a page out of the playbook of Chris Paddack, who went strike-one to 18 of 20 in winning Monday.
“He’s just very poised,” Hinch said. “One of the things I’ve been asked a lot about him is how he’s handing all of this, and he’s just taking the ball when we’re giving it to him.
“I’m even more impressed by how he’s doing it than what he’s doing, and what he’s doing is awesome.”
Said Melton: “That’s the goal every time I pitch ― quick outs.”
Melton got the opening assignment Wednesday, but he could be an X-factor down the stretch for a bullpen that’s had its share of woes for the last several weeks.
Also on that front, enter Gipson-Long, who was out for more than a month with a neck injury, picked right up where Melton left off Wednesday. The right-hander, activated before the game, went two innings, facing the minimum six batters. He allowed a single in his first inning, but that runner was quickly erased on a double play nicely started by second baseman Gleyber Torres. He struck out two.
Finnegan worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth inning, then Vest worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 18th save, delighting a significant percentage of the 13,647 fans in the stands.
“All day, all our pitchers did a really good job of getting ahead, you know,” Rogers said.
“I think that was kind of the biggest thing.
“It’s huge for everybody.”
It was the Tigers’ third 1-0 win in 2025 (one against Cleveland, one against Kansas City), and just their second 1-0 win against the White Sox at Rate Field in the last seven seasons (March 2024).
The Tigers’ lead in the American League Central grew to 6.5 games over the Cleveland Guardians, who lost to the Miami Marlins, 13-4, later Wednesday.
The Tigers next head to Minnesota, for a four-game series with the Twins, starting Thursday night.
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
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