Tigers 6, White Sox 3: ‘Los’ takes the loss

As noted in the White Sox Minor League Update, I was in Kannapolis at the same time the White Sox were playing the Tigers, so here’s a condensed-game recap for our records, with your details appreciated.

*Yolmer Sanchez carried his heroics from Friday into Saturday with high-rise two-run blast to right that gave the Sox a 2-0 lead in the second.

*Alas, Justin Upton found the same jet stream on Carlos Rodon’s outside 94-mph heater, carrying it the opposite way for a game-tying shot in the third. Miguel Cabrera then followed him in the same direction over a leaping Avi Garcia to make it a back-to-back affair. The Tigers took a 3-2 lead and never trailed from there.

*The Tigers added to their lead in the fourth. Ian Kinsler muscled a single up the middle to make it 4-2. He then stole second and scored on a solid single by Dixon Machado for a fifth run on Rodon’s tab that put the game out of reach.

*Rodon’s strong August ended with a bit of a clunker. He stumbled out of the gate with an HBP and a walk, and the Tigers never let him settle in. His line: 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2 HR, 2 HBP.

*The Sox were able to get back on the board in the sixth, but they missed a chance for more. With two outs, Avisail Garcia walked. Matt Davidson followed with a single to center, and Garcia took third when Mikie Mahtook — who had a couple of misreads in center — kicked the ball toward left field.

Davidson couldn’t make it to second on the error, which mattered when Tim Anderson followed with a double to the right-center gap that only moved Davidson to third. Daniel Stumpf came in and struck out Sanchez, stranding the two runners and keeping it a 5-3 game.

*That surge meant that Buck Farmer came up one out short of a quality start, but he still lowered his ERA to 6.17 and picked up his third win of the year by allowing three runs over 5 ²⁄₃ innings.

*Davidson went 2-for-4 with a strikeout in his return from the DL.

*Then again, the White Sox bullpen had to cover four innings. They did well enough, limiting the damage to a bases-loaded sac fly that put a run on Mike Pelfrey’s line on Jake Petricka’s watch, and the Sox made it moot by not scoring from that point forward.

*The White Sox did get the tying run to the plate in the ninth. Leury Garcia singled and Shane Greene fumbled Alen Hanson’s roller up the first-base line to keep the game alive, but he aced Tyler Saladino on the outside corner to end it.

*Rob Brantly made his 2017 debut, striking out in the ninth inning in a pinch-hitting appearance for Adam Engel.

Record: 51-77 | Box score