White Sox 9, Tigers 5: A muted end to an amazing regular season

Kenta Maeda and Keider Montero struggled, and the defense was shaky as well.

The Tigers finished the regular season on a muted note on Sunday, dropping one 9-5 to the Chicago Sox. It was a pretty ugly day for the Tigers all around, and as the Kansas City Royals closed out their season with a win over the Atlanta Braves, the Tigers will take on the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park in the Wild Card Series starting on Tuesday.

The Detroit Tigers’ 2024 season was one of ups and downs. Many expected the team to continue on the path of middling improvements, winning a few more games than last year and finishing around .500 on the season. Then the injury bug hit, with multiple stars missing significant time. Parker Meadows, Javy Baez, and Spencer Torkleson all drastically under-performed at the plate. Kenta Maeda turned into a Jordan Zimmerman. The team started dropping games, fell well back in the playoff hunt, and many fans figured it was going to be another disappointing year. The team sold most of its veterans at the deadline.

But….things don’t always stay bad. Led by a resurgent Parker Meadows, the team rebounded and started winning. The pitching improved. Skubal became a Cy Young-level starter. The kids began playing more and gaining more confidence. No 8th inning deficit felt too much, because suddenly the cardiac cats were hot. Guys who may have been org fodder on other teams became reliable bullpen arms with electric stuff. The team came alive, and the town with it.

That leads us here, to the final game of the season. The Tigers and White Sox. A team miraculously in the playoffs vs a team that just set the modern loss record (thankfully taking the AL record away from the Tigers 2003 squad). Detroit won the first game of the series to clinch a playoff spot for the first time in a decade, then a tired looking lineup pretty much rolled over for a shutout loss on a rainy afternoon.

The only question that remained unanswered entering the final game of the season was whether the Tigers would play a three game wild card series in Baltimore or in Houston. A Detroit win or a loss by the Kansas City Royals at Atlanta would put the Tigers in Baltimore. A Royals win coupled with a Tigers loss would put them in Houston.

Detroit sent veteran Kenta Maeda to the mound for his first start since July 9. Maeda was banished to the bullpen despite the club’s desperate need for starting pitching. He is the lone pitcher on the staff with negative WAR, but he has pitched better in a relief role. He posted a 7.26 ERA in 16 starts, and a 3.86 ERA in 42 innings of relief. At age 36, he is five years the senior of any other Tiger on the roster, and also the highest paid player on the team with Javy Baez out for the season.

Detroit Manager AJ Hinch explained the decision to start Maeda:

The White Sox sent big right hander Jonathan Cannon to the mound, sporting a 4.37 ERA, and wins in his last two starts, both against the Los Angeles Angels. The one start Cannon made against the Tigers this year was back on August 25. Cannon tore through the Tigers lineup one time, and then they lit him up for five runs the second time through the order, knocking him out after four innings.

Maeda got out to a nice start with no hard contact and a strikeout of Luis Robert Jr. on a nasty splitter. Parker Meadows, Kerry Carpenter, and Matt Vierling went down in order as well with a pair of flyballs and Carp chasing a high fastball for a swinging strike three.

Andrew Vaughn popped out to start the second inning. Lenyn Sosa flared a little single into left field and then Bryan Ramos dumped a little blooper in front of Parker Meadows in center field. Korey Lee smacked a grounder up the middle past a diving Trey Sweeney for an RBI single, and it was 1-0 White Sox with runners on first and third with one out.

Dominic Fletcher was next and he lifted a sinking liner out to the left center field gap. Parker Meadows made yet another great catch, laying out and sliding along the wet grass as Ramos tagged and scored from third. 2-0 White Sox. Maeda froze Jacob Amaya with a sweeper on the inner edge for strike three to finally snuff the rally.

One more addition to a truly wild highlight reel for Parker Meadows this year. This doesn’t even stand out at all by his standards.

Riley Greene lined out to open the bottom of the second, but Wenceel Pérez ripped a line drive single to give the Tigers their first baserunner. Colt Keith flew out to left, and it was up to Spencer Torkelson. However, Pérez was looking to run and Cannon picked him off to end the inning.

Not a great start.

Maeda opened the third by walking Miguel Vargas on a close 3-2 pitch. Robert flew out to right field, but DeLoach flared a little slice that dropped just beyond the infield dirt in left field. Andrew Vaughn popped out to Vierling at third, and Maeda needed to get Sosa to get out of the inning. Instead, he left an 0-1 splitter up just a bit and Sosa lifted it deep to left for a three-run homer. 5-0 White Sox. These are not the vibes we were looking for with the Wild Card Series starting in two days. Maeda carved up Ramos to end the inning.

The Tigers continued to look pretty flat at the plate in the third and the fourth. A line drive single from Meadows was the only hard contact produced.

Casey Mize was warming in the pen, and Maeda hit Vargas as the fifth inning got underway. Robert flew out, and DeLoach struck out on a fairly generous call on a breaking ball away. That was it for Maeda, as Mize took over with two outs and Vargas still on first.

Mize got a routine grounder to Sweeney at shortstop, but he misplayed it into an error. Sosa grounded out to Vierling at third to strand the runners.

Cannon’s pitch count was still in the mid-50’s at this point. Colt Keith popped out to lead off the bottom of the fifth, but Torkelson drew a walk. Trey Sweeney waited out Cannon as well as he got a little wild, and he drew a walk as well. Ethan Katz came out to settle Cannon down, and he got a break as Jake Rogers ripped a drive to left that was caught. Parker Meadows got ahead 3-0 and took a fastball down the middle for strike one. Cannon missed down and in with a breaking ball, Meadows walked, and the bases were loaded for Kerry Carpenter.

The White Sox were late to get a reliever warmed. Cannon tried to stall for a moment after issuing back-to-back walks, but they there was no time to get a reliever properly warmed. So Cannon fired a first pitch fastball up in the strike zone, and Kerry promptly demolished it for a grand slam over the big wall in right center. Still 5-4 White Sox, but the vibes were rejuvenated.

Matt Vierling grounded out, and we were on to the sixth.

Mize immediately walked Bryan Ramos to start the inning, which is not how you capitalize on momentum. A Korey Lee grounder forced Ramos at second, but Fletcher singled up the middle to get Lee to third. Mize got a soft tapper right back to him off the bat of Amaya and threw home to Rogers. Lee tried to retreat to third and managed to keep the play going long enough for Fletcher to reach third and Amaya to get to second base. It didn’t matter, as Vargas flew out to Pérez in right field to strand them.

Lefty Fraser Ellard took over from Cannon in the bottom half of the sixth. Riley Greene waited him out, drawing a leadoff walk on eight pitches. Pérez looked to have popped out near the Sox dugout, but Vaughn at first and catcher Korey Lee got in each other’s way and the ball dropped. Ellard fired strike three on the edge to punch out Pérez anyway. Then Ibáñez pinch-hit for Keith, but he popped out as well. That left it to Torkelson.

Tork missed a double by a few feet down the left field line as he and Ellard locked into a long battle. Tork fouled off another tough slider down and in, but eventually lifted a fly out to right field.

Mize gave up a leadoff single to Robert, who promptly stole second, to open the seventh. Mize walked DeLoach, and the Tigers had seen enough. If these were auditions for the last spot on the postseason roster, Madden yesterday, Maeda and Mize today, all made zero case for taking them along.

Instead, Keider Montero took over and carved up Andrew Vaughn for the first out of the inning. Sosa worked into a 3-2 count, whiffing at both the slider and knuckle curve along the way. Montero fired a 96 mph fastball down on the outer edge for a foul, then hung a curveball which Sosa pulled well foul. Another curve tied him up, but Sosa got enough to foul that one off as well. Another good slider down and away drew a swing, but Sosa got just a splinter of wood on it to foul that off as well. Good AB and a good duel here, but Montero lost it by missing up with a fastball.

The walk loaded the bases, and Bryan Ramos stepped into the batter’s box with Montero needing to rise to the occasion and make his postseason case to pitch out of the pen. Instead Ramos flared a single down the right field line, two runs scored, and it was 7-4 White Sox. It was kind of an odd play, as Ramos tipped Jake Rogers’ glove and didn’t immediately run, but the ball was in play and live.

Korey Lee pulled a hot grounder to Vierling at third and it ate him up, clanging off him for an error, and another run scored. 8-4 White Sox. Yes, it doesn’t matter much but it was still irritating to see them ending the regular season this way even knowing they weren’t sending their best to the mound. Fletcher grounded one to Torkelson, who threw to first for the second out of the inning. Rogers continued to call on Montero to spam breaking balls, and Jacob Amaya ripped a single to left. 9-4 White Sox.

So it was apparently going to be the Houston Astros rather than the Orioles. The Royals were up 4-2 over the Braves at this point. Montero finally got a pop out to end a brutal inning, and let’s just say this was no way to inspire confidence heading into the playoffs. This was probably the worst game the Tigers have played in over a month. Granted, Maeda and Mize, at least, aren’t really part of the October plan. Montero might be on the roster but there’s no way he’s going to pitch in a close game in the Wild Card Series. Even Sweeney, Vierling, and Rogers had uncharacteristically poor games defensively.

Shake it off, Tigers.

Montero got the first two outs in the eighth, but gave up singles to Vaughn and Sosa. Ramos fell behind 0-2 and then popped out to send this to the bottom half.

RHP Prelander Berroa took over for the White Sox. Kerry Carpenter flew out to start things off, and then Vierling drew a walk. Riley Greene flew out to left, but Pérez slapped a broken bat single up the middle to get Vierling to third. Jace Jung pinch hit for Ibáñez and drew a walk to load the bases for Spencer Torkelson.

Berroa was feeling the heat as the crowd got loud, and he missed with three straight pitches. He came back to get strike one and then fired another fastball down the middle that Torkelson took for strike two, but the next heater went wild to walk in a run. 9-5 White Sox.

That was it for Berroa. Enyel de los Santos came on and got a soft tapper back to him from Trey Sweeney to end the threat, and we were disappoint.

9-5 White Sox as we entered the final inning of the regular season. Montero got a quick fly out to start things off. Fletcher grounded out, and Montero punched out Amaya to send it to the bottom of the ninth.

Zach McKinstry pinch-hit for Jake Rogers and crushed one to the right center field wall. Fletcher looked to have made a great over the shoulder basket catch but he bobbled it and it bounced off the wall before Fletcher secured it. Fletcher tried to play it off, but the Tigers challenged it. Inexplicably, the replay booth called it a catch and A.J. Hinch came out in total disgust, got run by home plate umpire Marvin Hudson, and Parker Meadows then singled. Kerry Carpenter bounced into a double play, and that was that.

Weird way for the regular season to end, and a pretty ugly final two days for the Tigers.

So, the Tigers end the year with an 86-76 record, tied with Kansas City for second place in the AL Central. The Royals held on to beat the Braves, and so the Tigers will take on the Houston Astros in Minute Maid Park starting on Tuesday.

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