The Detroit Tigers tried to save face in the final game of their three-game series against the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park today. It wasn’t meant to be. The White Sox pulled off another comeback win, taking the finale 7-5 and sweeping the whole weekend series. That stinging 7-5 loss marked the third straight defeat for the Tigers at the hands, or should I say bats, of Chicago this weekend.
Pitchers on Opposite Paths
On the mound for Detroit, Drew Anderson made his third start as a for-real rotation guy. His first outing? A quick 3 2/3 innings and 42 pitches. The second? Only four innings, but cranked up to 70 pitches. So, the goal today was pretty clear: get through about five innings, maybe 80 pitches, hopefully more if he was dealing. But we all know, not every pitch is equal. Throwing with runners on, in a high-stress situation, takes way more out of a guy than a harmless 0-0 count. Meanwhile, Sean Burke for the White Sox looked solid, like he has all season. This was his twenty-first start in his second full year, and he’s been very, very solid, racking up about 10 Ks per nine innings and keeping those home runs way down. He’s a fly-ball pitcher, sure, but his hard-hit percentage is way below league average, which means he keeps the ball in the yard when it counts.
Detroit’s Brief Glimmer of Hope
The Tigers actually got things cooking in the bottom of the second, and for a hot second, it looked like they might break the curse. Colt Keith led off with a sharp single, and Zach McKinstry followed that up with a walk. After Spencer Torkelson popped out, rookie Brett Callahan stepped to the plate for his very first major league at-bat. First pitch: a knuckle-curve down in the zone, and BAM! Callahan absolutely scorched a triple into the right-field corner, bringing in two runs for a 2-0 Tigers lead! That head-first slide into third wasn’t exactly poetry in motion, but who cares? Two runs are two runs. Fellow rookie Max Clark kept the momentum going with a single to right, scoring Callahan and pushing the lead to 3-0. Javier Báez hit a grounder that Chicago thought was an inning-ender, but a review showed it was only a forceout at second. Then Gleyber Torres singled, Kevin McGonigle walked, and suddenly the bases were loaded with two outs. Talk about a chance to blow it open! But Dillon Dingler sent a fly ball to left that settled into the glove of a sliding Sam Antonacci, ending the inning. Ouch.
White Sox Answers, Romo Delivers
The White Sox weren’t about to roll over. They got one back in the top of the third when Tristan Peters hit an automatic double, hustled to third after a grounder to first (which actually deflected off Torkelson’s glove right to an alert Torres for a 3-4-1 putout), and then scored on another grounder to first. Just like that, it was 3-1. But the real gut punch came later. Drew Romo, number 36 for Chicago, stepped up in the top of the fifth and blasted a two-run home run. That shot was a dagger, part of the White Sox coming from behind again to snatch a 7-5 victory. That’s how you lose a series, giving up runs late after battling to get ahead.
This sweep? Man, it’s gotta sting for Detroit. You try to salvage one game, you get a solid start from a young arm, you get some exciting rookie bats lighting things up, and still, you end up losing all three games, with Chicago always finding a way to come from behind. The Tigers are gonna need to figure out how to finish games, especially when they’ve got the lead. You can’t let teams walk all over you at home like that.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bless You Boys.
Leave a Reply