Tigers 7, White Sox 6 (12): Omar Infante knocked in the winning run with an infield single in the 12th inning as host Detroit rallied from six runs down in the ninth for an improbable victory.
Miguel Cabrera collected three hits, including an RBI single in the ninth, to raise his major league-leading average to .349 but left after the inning with soreness in his groin. The Tigers maintained their six-game lead over Cleveland and lowered their magic number to clinch their third straight American League Central crown to two.
Chris Sale shut out the Tigers for 7 2/3 innings and Chicago took a 6-0 lead into the ninth before Detroit erupted against reliever Nate Jones. Pinch hitter Andy Dirks' three-run blast made it 6-5 before Jones could record an out, and closer Addison Reed walked the bases loaded ahead of Torii Hunter's tying sacrifice fly.
Jake Petricka (1-1) duplicated Reed's feat by issuing three walks in the 12th and was unable to corral Infante's comebacker to the mound. The ball deflected toward the second baseman and Don Kelly scampered home to cap the Tigers' first comeback win after trailing by six or more runs in the ninth inning since 1947.
Al Alburquerque (4-3) pitched two scoreless innings in relief for the win. Sale struck out seven and allowed four hits, while Detroit starter Rick Porcello gave up two runs on six hits with nine strikeouts in 6 2/3 frames.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Tigers went over 3 million in home attendance for the second straight year and the fourth time in history. … Detroit DH Victor Martinez went 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to eight games. … The White Sox had five rookies in the starting lineup, with Marcus Semien making his first major-league start at shortstop.
Chi. White Sox | Detroit | |
Chris Sale | Player | Rick Porcello |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
7.2 | IP | 6.2 |
7 | Strikeouts | 9 |
4 | Hits | 6 |
0.00 | ERA | 2.70 |
Chi. White Sox | Detroit | |
Gordon Beckham | Player | Miguel Cabrera |
2 | Hits | 3 |
1 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 0 |
3 | TB | 3 |
.400 | Avg | .750 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Chi. White Sox | 12 | 0 | 16 | .245 | 18 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Detroit | 11 | 1 | 18 | .268 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 2 |