Jiménez, Encarnación overpower Tigers
The White Sox raced out to an early lead and managed to hold on for a lopsided victory.
Tim Anderson got the party started by drawing a walk to lead off the game. After a base hit by Yasmani Grandal, José Abreu got the White Sox on the board with an RBI double. With two outs, Eloy Jiménez came up to the plate, and he did what he does best.
Sure, it wasn't quite a typical Eloy home run, as it traveled 353 feet. However, the blast was still enough to put the White Sox ahead by a score of 4-0 in the top of the first. The homer was the fourth of the young season for Jiménez, and it helped set the tone in tonight's victory.
Eloy was subdued postgame, but he perked up at the end, when asked about his sure double-turned-RBI single:
The score remained 4-0 until the top of the fourth, when Edwin Encarnación stepped up to the plate to lead off the inning.
Encarnación's second homer of the season was a moonshot, as it left the bat at 108.7 mph with a 35-degree launch angle. The 410-footer cleared the left field wall by plenty, and it gave the White Sox another insurance run.
Meanwhile, Gio González started for the White Sox, and overall, he performed well. Thanks to the offense's fast start, González had a large margin for error, and he did not need it. González kept the Tigers off the board until the fifth, when he allowed a two-run homer to Austin Romine. Romine's blast brought the Tigers within three runs, but that was as close as the Tigers got.
Gio was frustrated that he couldn't last five innings to earn his first White Sox win. Here's his full postgame session:
Eloy drove in his fourth run of the evening with a sharp liner down the right field line in the sixth. This was a single, but Tigers were only able to keep Jiménez at first base due to an unlucky bounce to right fielder Travis Demeritte. The White Sox wrapped up their scoring with two runs in the seventh against old friend Carson Fulmer. Yoán Moncada drove in a run with a groundout, and José Abreu hit an RBI double against the former White Sox pitcher. The Tigers scored two in the ninth, but it was too little, too late.
Naturally, manager Ricky Renteria was pretty pleased to get back even this season. Here's his full postgame session:
The White Sox improved to 9-9, while the Tigers fell to 9-6. The finale game of this three-game series will start tomorrow at 12:10 p.m. CT. Dylan Cease is the probable starter for the White Sox, and he will square up against lefthander Matthew Boyd.
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All postgame video courtesy of the Chicago White Sox!