David Price sees shutout bid, lead evaporate with barrage of ninth-inning hits, but Miguel Cabrera delivers walk-off single to save some skins
In the debate between winning games and securing a protected draft pick, tonight's game might be the best example of meeting halfway.
The White Sox trailed 3-0 entering the ninth inning with David Price cruising to an economical shutout. He left with two outs, the game tied at 3, and Joe Nathan -- who Brad Ausmus did everything in his power to avoid using -- entering the game. He walked Conor Gillaspie to load the bases for Carlos Sanchez ...
... but Sanchez couldn't lay off a high 1-0 pitch and flied out to center, and Jake Petricka gave up a single, walk, and a walk-off single to Miguel Cabrera to end it.
The Tigers get to celebrate, but not without an ulcer. Had the Sox pulled off the comeback, the Tigers would've fallen into a tie for first place with the Kansas City Royals. That vision was real enough -- and the managing questionable enough -- to silence the crowd and instill doubt in some of Detroit's decision-making for future games.
After all, Ausmus let Price give up five ninth-inning hits past the 100-pitch mark. And while most objective fans are second-guessing him, the 32,000+ fans at Comerica applauded him when he departed from a mound visit without removing his starter.
White Sox fans, on the other hand, can take some enjoyment in this one, because the Sox -- especially Paul Konerko -- gave them something to watch after eight shutout innings.
With Price at 96 pitches, Adam Eaton led off with a single up the middle. He moved to third on Alexei Ramirez's double, and after Jose Abreu was too protective of getting Mark Wegner's wide strike called against him, Avisail Garcia picked him up with a two-run single against his former team.
After the first mound visit, Price stayed in the game and retired Dayan Viciedo on a flyout to right. That brought Paul Konerko to the plate, and, in what may be his last plate appearance at Comerica, he reached out and hooked a 1-2 changeup to left field to put runners on the corners. Then came Marcus Semien, who dug into his supply of late-inning magic and delivered a single to center to drive in Garcia, first-and-third pinch-running Moises Sierra, and chase Price from the game.
Semien needed that single, because his error helped Detroit build their 3-0 lead.
The Tigers led just 1-0 against Scott Carroll heading into the seventh. Alex Avila led off with a single, and Robin Ventura pulled Carroll for Ronald Belisario. Classic Belisario misfortune followed.
Through two batters, Belisario did his job perfectly, foiling a sac bunt attempt by getting the lead runner at second, then inducing a possible double play ball against Rajai Davis. But Semien, who was thinking double play against a fast combination of runners, acted too quickly, and the ball glanced off his glove and into left field to put runners on the corners.
Instead of escaping the inning, Belisario had to put his .438 BAA with runners in scoring position to the test. Sure enough, Ian Kinsler singled to left to score one run, and Torii Hunter brought another in with a double down the line (it should've scored two, but fan interference forced Kinsler to hold at third) (imagine that fan if the Tigers lost this game).
Belisario then struck out Cabrera, intentionally walked Victor Martinez to face J.D. Martinez, and struck him out, too, to prevent further damage. He's had such a weird season.
The White Sox also aided the Tigers in the scoring of their first run, and Davis was in the center of that, too. He started the fifth with a single, stole second on a strikeout, stole third with Torii Hunter at the plate, and then took home when Josh Phegley's throw bounced into left field.
That might be another thing that makes Detroit fans uneasy: In two games with Carroll and Chris Bassitt starting, they needed 19 innings to score their first unassisted run.
Record: 72-85 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights
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