Welcome home, Tigers, and just in time for a new series to kick off against division rivals the Chicago White Sox. Jack Flaherty was on the mound for the Tigers, up against Erick Fedde for the White Sox.
With two outs in the top of the first Luis Robert Jr. drew a walk, then Gavin Sheets singled. A wild pitch from Flaherty allowed both runners to advance, but the final out left the two runners stranded. Colt Keith got a one-out single in the home half, then stole second. Mark Canha walked, but a strikeout ended the inning scoreless.
Paul DeJong got a one-out single in the second, but was the sole baserunner. In the bottom half Justyn-Henry Malloy doubled, then Carson Kelly hit a two-run homer to put the Tigers on the board first. Matt Vierling got a two-out single, but the Tigers settled for the two runs.
In the third, Tommy Pham got a leadoff single, but the next three batters went down in order. Riley Greene got a single to start the bottom half, but was eliminated on a force out off the bat of Mark Canha. A double play then ended the inning.
The Sox went 1-2-3 at the top of the fourth, and it was much the same for the Tigers in the bottom half.
With two outs in the fifth, Tommy Pham hit a solo home run to cut the Tigers’ lead and put the Sox on the board. In the home half, the Tigers went 1-2-3.
Two outs into the sixth and Jack Flaherty started to show signs of strain. After a single to Andrew Vaighn, A.J. Hinch came out to visit the pitcher, but left him in, and then after a walk to Oscar Colas, Flaherty was done for the day. His final line was 5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 1 HR on 98 pitches. Beau Briekse came in and got the final out. Bottom of the sixth the Tigers went down in order.
The seventh was a quick 1-2-3 for both sides.
In the eighth, Gavin Sheets got a two-out single that chased Brieske from the game, replacing him with Jason Foley. Foley got the last out of the inning. John Brebbia replaced Fedde after seven innings. At this point a lightning warning was issued, chasing fans to the concourse. It might have also scared of Tigers’ bats, because they were three-up, three-down.
Foley came back out hoping to get the final three outs of the game before the storm rolled in. With one out, Paul DeJong apparently got hit by a pitch, and oh boy, if he was it was a graaaaze. The Tigers challenged the call, but it was upheld. And in a positively hilarious moment, the Tigers got their second out, and DeJong got confused on the basepaths about the number of outs (possibly?) and they got the most ridiculous double play of the season.
Final: Tigers 2, White Sox 1