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Tigers sweep White Sox; tied with O’s for 2nd WC
- Updated: September 1, 2016
DETROIT — The Chris Sale-Justin Verlander pitching duel came down to Tigers rookie JaCoby Jones, who doubled twice and scored the winning run in the ninth on a Tyler Collins sacrifice fly to complete a sweep of the White Sox with a 3-2 victory on Wednesday afternoon at Comerica Park.
The win, coupled with Baltimore’s loss to Toronto on Wednesday night, pulled the Tigers even with the Orioles for the second American League Wild Card spot.
Jones, who went 2-for-4 in his Major League debut Tuesday night, put Detroit on the scoreboard when Andrew Romine singled him home in the fifth inning. That was the Tigers’ lone run off Chris Sale until J.D. Martinez’s two-out RBI single in the eighth tied it.
Jones greeted White Sox closer David Robertson in the ninth with a drive off the wall in right-center field. Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s fly ball to the warning track in right moved Jones to third with one out. Collins, pinch-hitting for Romine, lofted a fly ball into shallow left-center, deep enough for the speedy Jones to take off for home. Left fielder Avisail Garcia’s throw didn’t get to the plate.
“It seems like sometimes after we see a starter a couple or three times, we tend to have better at-bats,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “And for whatever reason, we seem to do pretty well against back-end relievers. You’re not always going to come back and win games against the back end of bullpens, but we least put up a fight.”
It marked the second hard-luck decision at Comerica Park in four weeks for Sale, who gave up two runs over eight innings at Comerica Park on Aug. 3 but lost on a Martinez home run. Sale all but silenced a Tigers offense that put up 12 runs over the first two games of the series. The southpaw allowed nine baserunners over the first five innings, but survived with help from three double-play grounders.
By contrast, Verlander looked nearly unhittable early, striking out six of his first eight batters and retiring 11 of the first 12. He was an out away from a clean fourth inning when Jose Abreu extended on a 2-2 changeup low and inside, sending it over the left-field fence for his 19th home run of the season. Former Tiger Alex Avila jumped Verlander’s next …
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