White Sox Blow Late Lead, Swept By Tigers With 4-3 Loss
The White Sox led all afternoon, until the final pitch.
Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson ripped a low and inside fastball from White Sox reliever Jordan Leasure down the left field line, scoring Zach McKinstry and Riley Greene for a walk-off double. With the 4-3 win, the Tigers completed the series sweep in their first home series, while the White Sox lost their fifth straight game.
The White Sox entered the ninth inning with a 3-1 lead after another strong start from Martín Pérez. Across 6.1 innings, Pérez allowed four hits and one earned run while walking two batters and striking out four. In his season debut last week, Pérez tossed six no-hit innings. Mike Clevinger, Cam Booser and Penn Murfee combined for 1.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen in relief of Pérez.
Reliever Fraser Ellard took over for Murfee with two outs in the eighth and retired his first batter with a one-pitch groundout. The Tigers’ rally began with a single from Javier Báez, who traded places with Trey Sweeney at first after a fielder’s choice groundout. McKinstry worked a 10-pitch walk in the next at-bat, followed by Ellard walking Greene on four pitches to load the bases.
That was it for Ellard, who was replaced by Jordan Leasure in a tough spot. Andy Ibáñez fouled off two pitches and patiently watched a few end up in the dirt on his way to an eight-pitch walk, which cut the White Sox lead to 3-2. And just like that, the White Sox lead evaporated as Torkelson won the game with a two-RBI double off of Leasure.
The runs were credited to Ellard, who took the loss and finished with three earned runs, one hit, two walks and zero strikeouts in 0.2 innings. Leasure gave up one hit and a walk without getting an out.
For most of the game, the White Sox were in position to snap what was a four-game losing streak entering Sunday’s series finale. In his return from the injured list with right hamstring strain, outfielder Mike Tauchman led off the game with a single to left field. Andrew Vaughn drove him in two at-bats later with a broken-bat single to the opposite field, and Matt Thaiss made it a 2-0 White Sox lead with a sacrifice fly.
The Tigers responded with an RBI single from Javier Báez in the second, one of just four hits given up by Pérez all game. Jake Amaya added to the lead with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and the White Sox maintained that lead until the final inning.
With this loss, the White Sox fell to 2-6 on the season with five straight losses. Andrew Benintendi also left Sunday’s game with left adductor tightness, the team announced, and he’s considered day-to-day. After a day off on Monday, they travel to Cleveland for a three-game series against the Guardians beginning Tuesday at 4:10 p.m. ET.
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Jack Ankony is the beat writer for “Chicago White Sox on SI.” He has been with the Sports Illustrated network since 2022. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism in 2022. Follow Jack on Twitter @ankony_jack