White Sox Beat Tigers 10-9 In 12 Innings

Adam Eaton’s single to center, his fourth hit of the night, scored J.B. Shuck with the game-winning run as the Chicago White Sox raced to a 10-9 home victory over the Detroit Tigers in 12 innings on Monday night after trailing by seven runs.

White Sox Beat Tigers 10-9 In 12 Innings

Shuck opened the frame with a double to right field and was moved to third by Tim Anderson’s sacrifice bunt.

“It’s huge,” Eaton said. “To claw back the way we did, especially in the ninth to tie it up, it’s a huge win for the team. We can hopefully hop on this wave and ride it a little bit.”

The Tigers exploded for seven runs early on Chicago starter James Shields, but soon found themselves holding onto a two-run lead going into the ninth inning.

Detroit’s Francisco Rodriguez, tied with the Baltimore Orioles’ Zach Britton for an American League-leading 19 saves, struck out Eaton to start the inning. A one-out single to Melky Cabrera and a walk to Jose Abreu followed.

“I just didn’t have any command at all,” Venezuelan right-hander Rodriguez said of his ninth inning. “It was a bad day.”

After Todd Frazier hit a double play to shortstop Jose Iglesias, the White Sox rallied for consecutive RBI singles from Brett Lawrie and Avisail Garcia to tie the game. Garcia singled to center to tie the game after being down 0-2 in the count with two outs, and Lawrie singled to left. Before Lawrie’s run, second baseman Ian Kinsler pulled Miguel Cabrera off the first-base bag as he tried to make the turn on the potentially close play.

The Tigers would eventually lose it in the 12th, when the White Sox blew past Anibal Sanchez. 

“Honestly, I think the most important thing guys were trying to do was have good at-bats and keep chipping away,” White Sox bench coach Rick Renteria said.

Shields, in his second straight start for the White Sox, allowed three in the first, three in the second and one in the third before a shutout inning in the fourth. In total, the right-hander allowed seven runs (six earned) in five innings, walking four and striking out one. In his last three starts, Shields has given up 23 earned runs over 9 2/3 innings, while fanning four and walking 10.

Detroit lefty Matt Boyd also struggled on Monday, allowing six earned runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

“It wasn’t a great night when you score nine runs and you end up losing the game, but it seems like there’s always a game like this through the course of a season for every team,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said.

After Cabrera walked to open the sixth against 21-year-old Chicago right-hander Tyler Danish, Nick Castelllanos followed with a double to right-center. However, White Sox manager Robin Ventura challenged that Castellanos was called as safe after Eaton’s throw to second, and after video review, the call was overturned for the first out. The Tigers ended up scoring one in the frame but could have had more if it hadn’t been for that call.

The two teams will next face off again on Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago for the second game of their three-game series, with Miguel Gonzalez (1-1, 3.57 ERA) making his eighth start and ninth appearance for the White Sox (32-32, 4th in AL Central), while Jordan Zimmermann will start for the Tigers (32-31, 3rd in Al Central).

PHOTO: CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 13: J.B. Shuck #20 of the Chicago White Sox throws his bat after flying out against the Detroit Tigers to end the ninth inning and send the game into the tenth inning at U.S. Cellular Field on June 13, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images)

Article by Pablo Mena