Reynaldo Lopez pitched eight-plus strong innings and Danny Mendick and Eloy Jimenez homered to lift the host Chicago White Sox to a 7-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday afternoon in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
Lopez (10-15) closed his season on a high note, scattering one run on five hits with one walk and nine strikeouts. Seeking his second complete game of the season, Lopez started the ninth inning but was lifted following Victor Reyes' leadoff single, one of Reyes' two hits in the game.
Detroit (46-113) opened the scoring with two outs in the first inning, as designed hitter Miguel Cabrera smacked a solo home run to left-center field. The home run was the 476th of Cabrera's career, moving him past Stan Musial and Willie Stargell and into a tie for 30th with Adrian Beltre on the major league all-time list.
Chicago responded with seven unanswered runs from the third through seventh innings, punctuating the outburst with Mendick's two-run blast in the sixth inning and a solo shot by Jimenez in the seventh that hit the foul pole in left field.
Chicago (71-88) chased Tigers starter Matt Boyd before the power surge. Ryan Cordell tied the score with an RBI single in the third to start a two-run rally. Yolmer Sanchez had an RBI double in the fourth and scored on Leury Garcia's RBI single.
Boyd (9-12), whom some observers considered an All-Star snub after a solid first half, ended his season in unspectacular fashion. The left-hander scattered four runs -- two earned - on six hits in four innings with one walk and four strikeouts.
White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, who leads the American League with a .338 batting average, rested during the first game, but Chicago manager Rick Renteria said Anderson would play in the nightcap. Bidding for the franchise's first batting title since Frank Thomas accomplished the feat in 1997, Anderson entered Saturday leading his nearest pursuer, New York Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu, by seven percentage points.
Yoan Moncada, Adam Engel and Sanchez had two hits apiece for Chicago to help the White Sox outhit the Tigers 10-5. Chicago has collected 10 or more hits in 14 of 16 games against Detroit this season, including the last 11 in a row.
--Field Level Media
Detroit | Chi. White Sox | |
Matthew Boyd | Player | Reynaldo Lopez |
Loss | W/L | Win |
4.0 | IP | 8.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 9 |
6 | Hits | 5 |
4.50 | ERA | 1.12 |
Detroit | Chi. White Sox | |
Victor Reyes | Player | Adam Engel |
2 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 2 |
.500 | Avg | .500 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Detroit | 5 | 1 | 9 | .167 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Chi. White Sox | 10 | 2 | 17 | .303 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 |