Tigers 5, White Sox 4: Cats scratch out a win

Sawyer Gipson-Long was rusty in his return, but the Tigers fought through it to earn at least a split on Wednesday.

It didn’t come easy, but the Detroit Tigers scratched out a 5-4 victory on a wet night in the Windy City. Sawyer Gipson-Long looked decent but rusty in his return to action, but after an early lead slipped away into a tie game, the backend of the bullpen dominated and the Tigers mustered a run in the eighth to take the game. It hasn’t always been pretty, but the Tigers are winners of 8 of their last 10 and continue to rule the roost.

The White Sox went with lefty Jared Shuster to begin a bullpen game in this one. His fastball is a bit underpowered, but he does have a pretty good changeup. What he lacks is a very effective breaking ball in particular. The Tigers mission was not just to win, but to wear through as much of the White Sox bullpen as possible to set things up for Thursday’s series finale.

First they had to wait for an hour and a half as rain drenched Chicagoland. With the Quick Dry making a tabby coat pattern on the infield dirt as the rain finally subsided, the stage was set for Sawyer Gipson-Long’s return to action.

His teammates wasted no time getting him some run support. Gleyber Torres led off with a double and Andy Ibáñez dumped a blooper into right field that right fielder Joshua Palacios couldn’t squeeze on his sliding attempt. That left runners on second and third, and Riley Greene sent a screaming one hopper through the left side of the infield. Torres scored, and Joey Cora picked up the fact that Andrew Benintendi wasn’t going to come up throwing and sent Ibáñez as well. 2-0 Tigers as Greene stayed put at first base.

Shuster was a bit gun-shy at that point and walked Spencer Torkelson. Not the way you want things to go in a bullpen game from the White Sox’s perspective. He settled down enough to strike out Wenceel Pérez, but Dillon Dingler spanked a single to right field off the end of his bat. Greene waited a moment to be sure it would drop and then tore around third to make it 3-0. Colt Keith grounded into a force of Dingler at second, and so it was Javier Báez up with two outs and runners on the corners. A bad 0-2 pitch from Shuster got drilled into left field, and it was 4-0 Tigers by the time Zack McKinstry, the nine hitter, grounded out to end the half inning.

Sawyer Gipson-Long returned to the mound in style after about 615 months on the injury list. He located a perfect fastball away from Mike Tauchman from strike one, got a whiff on a front hip sinker, and then a whiff for a three-pitch strikeout on a changeup. He then fell behind Chase Meidroth 2-0 and gave up a single to right. Gipson-Long struck out Miguel Vargas, showing some really good changeups and command of his fourseamer and sinker. Meidroth then broke for second, mis-timing the pitcher for the second time in the series, and was trapped in a run down and eventually tagged out by Zach McKinstry. Good first inning back in the major leagues for Sawyer.

Right-hander Mike Vasil took over in the second for the White Sox, and he tossed a 1-2-3 frame to right the ship for the south siders. Gipson-Long was more efficient in the second and he too tossed a 1-2-3 inning. A nice sliding stop and throw from Andy Ibáñez on a hard ground ball to third from Tim Elko ended the inning

Vasil carved up Torkelson and Dingler for swinging strike threes on good sweepers for a quick top of the third.

Gipson-Long blew away Josh Rojas with a high fastball to start the bottom of the third. He walked Michael A. Taylor, but Korey Lee popped out on the infield. Tauchman got ahead 2-0 and eventually drilled a double to right center field to score the speedy Taylor from first. Wenceel Pérez fielded the ball but slipped on the wet grass as he tried to hit the brakes to get the ball back into the infield. Tauchman then stole second with Meidroth at the plate and a sharp single to left made it a 4-2 game. A fly out from Vargas ended the inning, but they had made Gipson-Long work as well as cutting the lead in half.

The White Sox understandably stuck with Vasil and his quality fastball-sweeper combo in the fourth. The right-hander got Colt Keith to fly out short of the warning track in left. Báez grounded out to third, and while McKinstry singled to left, Torres flew out to right to end the half inning.

Andrew Benintendi got a 1-0 fastball and doubled to right to start the bottom half as Gipson-Long’s pitch count climbed above 60. He only threw 53 in his last rehab start, so it time for the bullpen to get loose. He got ahead of Palacios 0-2, but let him back into the count and Riley Greene had to make a diving play in left on a sinking line drive for the first out of the inning.

Gipson-Long wasn’t quite getting his stuff down in the zone as the outing progressed though over his command looked really good for his first start back. He got ahead of Tim Elko 0-2 as well, but threw a ball and left another slider up too much. Elko lined it for a single to left, and Chris Fetter came out for a chat on the mound. Rojas flew out to left, but it was deep enough to score Benintendi from third, and it was a 4-3 game as AJ Hinch turned to John Brebbia to get Taylor and he did so on a fly out to Báez in right center field.

Overall we saw enough of the good from Gipson-Long to be encouraged, but there is certainly some rust to knock off. He wasn’t hit all that hard, but as you’d expect his command still needs sharpening.

Ibáñez flew out to left to start off the fifth inning as Vasil continued to keep the Tigers in check. However, Riley Greene continued his one-man show by going down after a 3-2 curveball below the zone and smoking it to the wall in right field for a one-out double. Torkelson grounded out to shortstop and Meidroth initially threw to second with Greene diving back to the bag. Rojas didn’t even bother trying to make a tag on Greene and just fired to first for the second out.

That left it to Pérez, who worked a 3-2 count but then got drilled on the right knee with a sweeper. Vasil had pitched really aggressively inside, buzzing both Greene and Dingler up near the head earlier in the game. Fortunately it was a breaking all and just a bad stinger. Pérez shook it off and was able to take his base after a minute on the ground.

Will Venable came out at that point to bring in right-hander Steven Wilson against Dingler with two on. Dingler put together a good AB as the drizzle picked up and drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. Unfortunately, Keith fouled off a first pitch heater down the middle and eventually chased Wilson’s good changeup to strike out. Big missed opportunity there.

Brebbia immediately gave up a double off the left field wall on a hanging slider to Korey Lee to start the bottom half. He fell behind Tauchman 3-0, though the last pitch was a slider for a strike that the ump missed, and really didn’t appear to have command of anything. Instead of wearing out the Sox bullpen, the White Sox were getting into the weak part of the Tigers’ pen. A one-hop rocket to the hole from Meidroth was knocked down on a fantastic play by McKinstry at short, but he bounced the throw to second from the ground and Torres couldn’t hang on. Everyone was safe, the bases were loaded, and John Brebbia had nothing working.

Vargas lifted a shallow pop fly into center field and Báez flew in to make the catch and with his strong arm and momentum on his side, the White Sox held Lee at third. AJ Hinch went to the bullpen for Tyler Holton. Benintendi quickly lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, and it was a 4-4 game, but stranding two runners would feel like a victory in this inning. Austin Slater flew out to Báez on the run in the left center field gap to mercifully end the inning.

Wilson retired the Tigers without issue in the sixth as the offense went back into hiding.

Holton got Elko to ground out, then struck out Rojas as the Tigers got a few poor strike calls in their favor finally. Taylor popped out, and we were on to the seventh.

Lefty Brandon Eisert took over for the Sox and quickly retired the Tigers in order yet again as Greene and Torkelson popped out.

Will Vest came to handle the top of the White Sox lineup. A Korey Lee grounder to McKinstry saw the utilityman uncork a wild, high throw but fortunately the ball stayed in play and Lee had to stay at first. Vest carved up Tauchman with a good changeup and some nasty sliders for a needed strikeout. Meidroth took a first pitch fastball for strike one and then bounced one to McKinstry who started a sharp 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

That was well as Vest only needed nine pitches and would likely be able to handle the eighth as well, leaving Tommy Kahnle the ninth. Still, they needed runs and the offense had been completely shut down since the first inning.

With Eisert still on the mound, Pérez ripped a single to center field but he tried to stretch it to a double and was initially ruled to have been thrown out at second base. The Tigers challenged as Pérez’s swim move appeared to have avoided the tag, and the instant replay confirmed the double.

Right-hander Jordan Leasure took over from Eisert and got Dingler on a fly ball to right field and Pérez had to hold at second. However, Colt Keith dumped a slicing fly ball down the left field line. The Sox converged on the ball but Benintendi couldn’t hang on as he slid and the ball landed just inches fair. Pérez played it perfectly and flew around to score as Keith cruised into second base having extended his hitting streak to 10 games. 5-4 Tigers. Báez hit a laser right to Slater in right field for the second out but Leasure walked McKinstry to bring Torres back to the dish.

Torres pulled a grounder to Meidroth, but his throw was too high and Palacios couldn’t handle it as he leaped over second base trying to knock it down. Unfortunately, he recovered it quickly and fired home to get Keith trying to score. So after a pretty chaotic inning, the Tigers would defend a one-run lead.

Vest took the mound looked pretty fired up to have the lead and the White Sox felt his wrath. He quickly carved up Tauchman and then popped out Benintendi first pitch swinging. Austin Slater was rung up on a picture perfect fastball on the outer edge and we were on to the ninth.

After some concerns about his right hamstring, Kerry Carpenter entered the game to lead off the ninth inning. Perhaps it was for the best that Caleb Freeman froze him with a curveball down and away for strike three. Greene fell behind 0-2 but tracked another curveball down and ripped a single to right field. Torkelson grounded into a force of Greene at second and it was up to Pérez, who hit it hard but right to Slater in right field.

So it was Tommy Kahnle time as Javy took over at shortstop and Parker Meadows entered the game playing center field. Kahnle got a first pitch ground out to Báez for the first out. Rojas flew out to Meadows for the second out, and Taylor flew out to end it.

The Tigers have at least a split, and RHP Casey Mize will take on RHP Sean Burke on Thursday hunting another series victory. They will then come home to face the Cubs before a quick trip to Baltimore and then back home for a homestand against the Reds and the Pirates in mid-June.

Notes

• The Detroit Tigers optioned RHP Dylan Smith back to Triple-A Toledo to work on his command as Gipson-Long took his spot on the active roster. RHP Jason Foley was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Gipson-Long.
• Before Wednesday’s game, AJ Hinch discussed the fact that Colt Keith is taking ground balls at third base and may get some time there. Hinch downplayed it as just opening up more versatility, but also mentioned that Keith’s arm strength has recovered over the years since the shoulder separation in 2022 that saw him move to second base.

• A night after Bryce Rainer injured his right shoulder on a similar play diving back to first base as with Keith’s 2022 injury, infield prospect Hao-Yu Lee was hit in the face by a pitch with the Toledo Mud Hens. Fortunately he was up and moving around okay after a minute, but it was ugly and looked like a potential broken nose at a minimum.
• 2025 All-Star voting is now open. You can fill out up to five ballots right here . Riley Greene, Gleyber Torres, Spencer Torkelson, Javier Báez, and Dillon Dingler are all good choices, though Cal Raleigh is a lock for the number one catcher spot.