White Sox push Tigers' skid to 8 on HBP in 11
CHICAGO -- Avisail Garcia was hit by a pitch from Detroit reliever Alex Wilson with the bases loaded to complete a White Sox comeback and give them a 4-3 victory in 11 innings Friday night at U.S. Cellular Field. The tough loss stood as the Tigers' eighth setback in a row.
It was walkoff win No. 5 for the White Sox this season. It also was the first time they walked off via a hit batsman since A.J. Pierzynski took one for the team on April 5, 2007, against Cleveland.
"I don't know that I've ever seen that," said White Sox first baseman Adam LaRoche, who tied the game with a two-out solo home run in the ninth against Detroit closer Joakim Soria -- the 250th of LaRoche's career.
"I think that's one of those things that, for those guys, when it's going bad, you find ways to lose games. I've been there. But again, we'll take it."
Video: DET@CWS: LaRoche ties game with solo shot in 9th
The 11th started when Adam Eaton reached on an infield single that was misplayed by first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Alexei Ramirez's single to center sent Eaton to third with nobody out. Jose Abreu was then intentionally walked, setting up Garcia.
Kyle Ryan held the White Sox to three hits over seven innings and the Tigers pushed across two runs in the seventh to break a 1-1 deadlock. Ryan allowed a run in the first inning on Abreu's run-scoring double, but didn't allow another hit until Garcia homered leading off the seventh. Ryan fanned four and walked one.
Jose Quintana finished with his 42nd career no-decision thanks to LaRoche's heroics, yielding three runs on nine hits over seven innings. Quintana struck out four and walked two, but one of those walks to Nick Castellanos in the seventh came back to hurt him. Castellanos and J.D. Martinez both scored on Josh Wilson's single to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead, after James McCann sacrificed the two runners up a base.
White Sox relievers Zach Putnam, David Robertson and Jake Petricka combined for four hitless innings, with Putnam and Robertson striking out six straight over the eighth and ninth.
Video: DET@CWS: Robertson strikes out side in order in 9th
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Ramirez works at No. 2: With switch-hitter Melky Cabrera mired in a season-long slump from the right side, White Sox manager Robin Ventura bumped him to sixth in the lineup and put Ramirez up at two. Ramirez singled and scored on Abreu's double in the first, walked in the third and singled in the 11th to set up the winning run, but grounded out against Soria with J.B. Shuck on third as the tying run and two outs in the eighth.
Video: DET@CWS: Abreu brings home Ramirez with a double
First time's a charm: Josh Wilson, who was called up on Tuesday, played his first game for the Tigers on Friday and picked a good time for his first hit. With the score tied at 1 and runners on second and third with one out, Wilson muscled a soft liner into right-center to score both runners and make it 3-1.
"Any time you get some hits and production from the bottom of the order, you know your team is probably going to do well," Wilson said. "If I can continue to just have good at-bats, we have some pretty good hitters at the bottom of the lineup."
Video: DET@CWS: J. Wilson hits go-ahead, two-run single
Garcia goes deep: Garcia connected on a 1-2 pitch from Ryan leading off the seventh to cut the White Sox deficit to one run. Garcia's homer marked the team's first hit since Abreu's double with one out in the first.
Video: DET@CWS: A. Garcia cuts deficit with solo shot
Two-out hitting: The Tigers tied the score at 1 in the fourth inning thanks to some clutch hitting by Castellanos. Yoenis Cespedes started the rally with a one-out ground-rule double down the right-field line. One out later, Castellanos singled sharply to center to plate Cespedes.
Video: DET@CWS: Castellanos drives in Cespedes with a single
QUOTABLE
"I don't know. A loss is a loss. Definitely this one stung because it happened with two outs in the ninth, but I'm not ranking 'em." -- Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, when asked if this was toughest of his club's eight straight losses
INSTANT REPLAY
The White Sox challenged a ground ball hit by Rajai Davis in the seventh inning that was a ruled a fielder's choice, with Jose Iglesias out at second but Davis safe at first. The call stood after a video review, leaving runners on first and third with two outs for Detroit.
Video: DET@CWS: Davis reaches first safely, play stands
RIGHT IS WRONG FOR MELKY
With his 0-for-3 showing against Ryan, Melky Cabrera is 4-for-50 this season as a right-handed hitter.
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Ryan began his Major League career by not allowing a run in his first 10 1/3 innings, which included six shutout innings against the White Sox in his debut on Aug. 30 of last season. He became the first Tigers pitcher to accomplish that feat since Chris Mears also did not allow a run in 10 1/3 innings to begin his career in 2003.
Video: DET@CWS: Ryan strikes out four over seven strong
WHAT'S NEXT
Tigers: David Price, who tossed a season-high 121 pitches in his last start Sunday in Anaheim, looks to bounce back from a hard-luck 4-2 defeat on Saturday in a 7:15 p.m. ET first pitch on FOX. The left-hander has 1.69 ERA in his last three starts but has just one win during that span.
White Sox: John Danks, owner of the team's lone complete game this season courtesy of his shutout of the Astros on Sunday, takes the mound on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. CT, live on FOX in a broadcast that will feature Statcast™ technology. The White Sox also will be showing Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Blackhawks and Lightning on select televisions around the ballpark..
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