Melky's 3-run shot caps Sox win over Tigers

CHICAGO -- Mike Pelfrey allowed one unearned run over five innings, as he defeated his previous employer from Detroit in an 8-2 White Sox victory Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field and snapped the team's three-game losing streak. The first game of a planned Friday doubleheader was postponed and moved to Saturday due to inclement weather, and the nightcap's first pitch was delayed 1 hour, 25 minutes.
Pelfrey yielded four hits and fanned seven, after striking out 11 in six previous starts combined, throwing 50 of his 86 pitches for strikes. He also pitched around two errors, which helped give the Tigers their first run in the second and set up a scoring chance in the fourth. Chris Beck, Anthony Swarzak, Dan Jennings, Tommy Kahnle and Gregory Infante finished off the victory.
The White Sox trailed, 1-0, before rallying for three runs with two outs in the third. Avisaíl García delivered the game-changing shot, ripping a bases-clearing double down the left-field line off Matthew Boyd to score three. Garcia's single season-high for RBIs stands at 59, but he already has 37 this season. José Abreuadded three hits to Garcia's three-hit performance, giving Abreu nine hits in the last three games. Melky Cabrera added a three-run homer in the eighth to put the game out of reach.

"I was just trying not to do too much, I'm trying to see the ball and put a good swing on it. I think that's it," Garcia said. "Don't try to do too much because sometimes when I'm trying to do too much or trying to hit it over the wall, my face goes quick so I don't see the ball really well. Looking for a pitch in the strike zone and putting a good swing on it."
Boyd, who has yielded 21 hits over the last 10 innings, gave up three runs on nine hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked two. Alex Avila homered against his former team, marking his sixth of the season.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Fourth-inning escape: Detroit had a couple of prime scoring opportunities in the fourth, but Pelfrey shut them down. With runners on second and third and nobody out, J.D. Martinez was thrown out at the plate after breaking from third on a contact play via Nick Castellanos' grounder.
"J.D. shouldn't have gone there," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "It was actually a mistake on [third-base coach Dave Clark]. Clarkie told him to go; it was his mistake. A lot of times those runners have the understanding that with the infield back, except the third baseman, when it's hit to anyone who's back, you go, and when it's to anyone in, you don't."
The Tigers reloaded the bases with one out, but John Hicks hit into a force at the plate and Andrew Romine's spinning liner was caught by Pelfrey.
"It was good to get out of it. It was a lot harder than I would have liked it to have been. It was a grind," Pelfrey said. "That's a good team over there. My whole mindset was try to keep making pitches. We were able to get through it. Guys made some plays, ended up working out in the end."

QUOTABLE
"They called me yesterday and I showed up ready to pitch the 4 o'clock game. Then I start getting ready at 5:30 for the 7 o'clock game and that gets pushed back. Next thing you know it's 8, so I go out at 8. Then it's 8:15. It was like it was neverending." -- Pelfrey on dealing with the rain and the doubleheader switch from Friday to Saturday
"For two games in a row, we're worrying about two games the next day. We're trying to use our 'pen wisely. By the time these guys get home and get in bed, it'll be two o'clock in the morning. We went to bed at four o'clock yesterday and we have an early game tomorrow and another early game following. There will be no BP. Everything will be done inside in the cage, soft-tossing, stuff like that." -- Ausmus on canceling batting practice before Saturday's doubleheader
SALADINO EXITS EARLY
Yolmer Sánchez pinch-hit for Tyler Saladino with one on and one out in the fourth, as Saladino exited with back spasms. Saladino looked a bit awkward throwing on J.D. Martinez's grounder to open the fourth, resulting in a two-base error. Saladino is listed as day to day.
"We took him out of the game, he felt a little twinge," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "We'll re-evaluate him tomorrow, and he didn't feel too good. So we'll see how he's doing in the morning, see how we go from there."
UNDER FURTHER REVIEW
Tigers left fielder Justin Upton led off the second inning with a chopper to the hole that was called a groundout after first-base umpire Nic Lentz ruled that first baseman Abreu had successfully applied the tag on shortstop Tim Anderson's wide throw. Detroit challenged the call and it was overturned after a review showed that Abreu applied the tag late. Anderson was charged with an error, and Upton was ruled safe. Upton scored in the inning on Hicks' RBI groundout.

With a runner on first and one out in the eighth inning, Tigers reliever Chad Bell appeared to hit White Sox center fielder Leury García on his left foot with a pitch in the dirt. The Tigers challenged the call of a hit-by-pitch, but the play stood following a replay review.

WHAT'S NEXT
Tigers: The Tigers once again have a quick turnaround to get to the ballpark on Saturday and will send right-hander Buck Farmer to the mound to make his season debut in the first leg of a straight doubleheader. It's the ninth career big league start for Farmer, who has gone 1-3 with a 4.12 ERA for Triple-A Toledo this season. First pitch is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET. Michael Fulmer will start the second game.
White Sox: Thanks to Friday's inclement weather, Friday's doubleheader becomes Saturday's twin bill for the White Sox against the Tigers. Derek Holland starts the first game at 1:10 p.m. CT, while right-hander Tyler Danish comes up for the second contest as the 26th man and makes his first Major League start after appearing with the White Sox last season as a reliever.
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