Late Rally Falls Short As White Sox Drop Series Opener At Detroit 7-4

Tigers pitchers kept the White Sox quiet for most of the day, but Will Venable’s club wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

Trailing by six runs entering the ninth inning, Austin Slater led off with a double and a Lenyn Sosa single put runners on the corners. Korey Lee drove in Slater on a sharp line drive up the middle, and the White Sox cut the deficit to three runs with RBI on ground outs by Brooks Baldwin and Lenyn Sosa.

White Sox slugger Luis Robert Jr. stepped to the plate with a chance to make it a one-run game in the ninth, but he struck out on a perfectly placed slider on the outside corner to end the game. The Tigers took the series opener 7-4 and host Game 2 Saturday at 1:10 p.m. ET at Comerica Park.

White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon had a promising season debut last Saturday, tossing five scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Angels. But the Tigers got to him early and often during their home opener. Kerry Carpenter hooked a fly ball just inside the foul pole for a solo home run in the first inning, which was originally called foul. Cannon allowed two more base runners in the first before escaping with a pair of fly outs.

Brooks Baldwin continued his strong start to the season with an RBI double in the second, scoring Matt Thaiss and evening the score at 1-1. Baldwin now leads the team with a .333 batting average and is second to Andrew Benintendi with six hits.

But Tigers starter Jack Flaherty settled in with three straight scoreless innings before being pulled with two outs in the sixth. His final line read 5.2 innings with three hits, one earned run, two walks and seven strikeouts.

Meanwhile, the Tigers went four straight innings with at least one run off of Cannon, Brandon Eisert and Bryse Wilson. Cannon struggled with control in the third, hitting Spencer Torkelson and walking Colt Keith. The Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the next at-bat with a single from Zach McKinstry.

Cannon got the first two outs in the fourth inning before he was replaced by Eisert. The White Sox starter pitched 3.2 innings, allowing three hits and three earned runs while walking three batters and striking out three. The Tigers immediately jumped on Eisert, who allowed Carpenter’s second home run of the day in his first at-bat.

Torkelson extended the lead with an RBI single off of Eisert, who gave up an RBI triple to Trey Sweeney in the following inning to make it a 6-1 Tigers lead. That was it for Eisert after 1.1 innings with five hits, three earned runs, no walks and a strikeout.

Bryse Wilson was next out of the bullpen for the White Sox, and he didn’t fare well early on either. In his second at-bat, he gave up a 417-foot solo home run to Riley Greene in the sixth, which also included a walk and a double.

But beginning with a strikeout of Javier Báez in the seventh, Wilson retired six straight batters to end his outing. He struck out Torkelson and Keith in his final two at-bats, keeping the ball low in the zone with a sinker and a changeup, respectively. In three innings, Wilson allowed two hits, one run, two walks and struck out five.

The White Sox have lost three straight games and fell to 2-5 on the season, tied for last place in the AL Central with the Twins. Davis Martin takes the mound on Saturday against Tigers starter Reese Olson.

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