White Sox 5, Tigers 1: That’s more like it

Drew Thorpe pitched six shutout innings to earn his first career win

The White Sox (21-57) played one of their best games of the season to even up the series against the Tigers (35-41).

There was not much traffic on the base paths in the early portion of this game. The Tigers appeared to have a bit of life with two outs in the first, when Drew Thorpe allowed a double and issued a walk. However, Thorpe pitched around this threat by getting Gio Urshela to fly out softly.

Tigers starter Kenta Maeda was also in control early on. Through three innings, nobody on the White Sox had gotten into scoring position. That changed rather quickly in the fourth, however, when Luis Robert Jr. doubled off of the wall in the right field corner. Robert proceeded to swipe third, and suddenly, the White Sox had a golden opportunity to get on the board. Maeda had a nine-pitch battle against Gavin Sheets that ended with a sweeper that barely clipped the lower-outside corner for out No. 1. That brought up Andrew Vaughn, who hit a soft grounder right back to the mound, and Robert was stuck on third for the moment.

Paul DeJong was next, and he swung at a cutter that was located nicely, but his grounder found a hole for a single. That brought home the first run of the game, and the White Sox were not done. Korey Lee singled to right, and Nicky Lopez lined a double down the right field line to make it 2-0. Maeda stranded a pair in scoring position, but some damage had finally been done.

The White Sox kept the party going in the fifth, and Andrew Beninendi started that scoring threat with a one-out single. Two batters later, a sharp grounder by Sheets found a gap just to the left of second base. As a result, the White Sox had runners at the corners with two outs, and Will Vest replaced Maeda on the mound. Vest had the task of stranding the runners, but Vaughn lined a single to make the score 3-0.

Tigers reliever Joey Wentz took over to begin the sixth, and he did not fool White Sox hitters. Korey Lee worked a 10-pitch at-bat before demolishing a 410-footer to left field.

That was Lee’s seventh homer, and it made the score 4-0.

Lopez continued the inning with an infield single for his third hit of the game. Lopez also stole second, and he came around to score on a single by Lenyn Sosa.

As for Thorpe, what a comeback performance. Thorpe struggled immensely during his last start, which was only his second career appearance in the majors. However, it was an entirely different story this afternoon. Thorpe earned his first career victory by finishing with six shutout innings, only allowing two hits. He pitched around four walks and struck out five.

Down the stretch, Justin Anderson pitched a scoreless seventh, John Brebbia allowed one in the eighth, and Michael Kopech pitched a scoreless ninth. Due to the commanding lead, the bullpen did not have much pressure to deal with. Things got slightly interesting in the bottom of the ninth, when Kopech allowed a single and issued a walk with two outs. That extended the game for Matt Vierling, who worked the count to 3-2. The payoff pitch missed a few inches outside, but Kopech got a friendly call, and the game was over.

Tomorrow will be the rubber match of this three-game series. The probable starters are Jonathan Cannon (3.34 ERA, 3.17 FIP, 32 1⁄3 innings, 0.8 fWAR) and Reese Olson (3.39 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 77 innings, 1.8 fWAR). The first pitch is scheduled to happen at 12:40 p.m. Central. As usual, NBC Sports Chicago will televise the game, and WMVP 1000 AM will have the radio coverage. We hope to see you tomorrow.

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Futility Watch

White Sox 2024 Record 21-57, worst 78-game start in White Sox history (5 1⁄2 games ahead of the next-worst, 1948 White Sox)
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -155, tied for the tied for the 32nd-worst 78-game start in history
White Sox 2024 Season Record Pace 44-118 (.269)
Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2003 Tigers, 43-119) 1 game behind
Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120) 3 games behind
Race to the Most White Sox Losses (1970, 106) 12 games ahead
Race to the Worst White Sox Record (1932, 52-109-1*) 8 1⁄2 games ahead
Race to the Worst American League Record (1916 A’s, 38-124*) 6 games behind
*record adjusted to a 162-game season

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