Detroit — It all worked out in the end.
The Tigers, held hitless for 4.2 innings, rallied late to beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-1, Saturday at Comerica Park.
Kevin McGonigle produced the first hit, a single off lefty Joe Rock with two outs in the fifth. That advanced Zack McKinstry to third, setting up Dillon Dingler’s tying RBI single.
Dingler, who leads the major leagues with 32 two-out RBIs, added his 17th homer of the year in the seventh, a 430-foot blast to center.
“He’s not in launch mode but he can launch and he showed that today,” manager AJ Hinch said. “I love his consistency and how he goes about his business. He’s been huge for us. He’s having a great year and he’s going to be recognized for it in the middle of the summer (All-Star berth). I don’t know where we’d be without it.”
The Tigers scored two more off Rock in the sixth on RBI singles by James Outman and catcher Jake Rogers.
And the pitching was stellar.
Troy Melton gave up a home run to Sam Antonacci on his second pitch of the game. It was the only hit he allowed in six strong innings. He walked three and struck out five.
“The next time we see Troy Melton rattled might be the first,” Hinch said. “He’s just very much in control of everything he’s doing.”
Melton had given up a first-pitch home run to Minnesota’s Byron Buxton in his last start, one of four homers he allowed that day. So when Antonacci got him right out of the gate, there was a brief uh-oh moment.
But not for the reason you might think.
“Me and Will Vest had a thing before the game,” Melton said with a chuckle. “I got a haircut and he’s not a big fan. He said if I give up four homers again, I’ll have to shave my head. So immediately, I was like ‘Oh Gawd.'”
He was never in danger of giving up four runs, let alone four homers.
“It’s OK,” he said. “Even if I had to shave my head, I know it will grow back faster than Vest’s.”
Boom.
“The big thing is, it’s not been going the way we’d like it to go,” said Melton, who is 4-0 with a 2.56 ERA since coming of the injured list. “But these two wins make it a little better. Just trying to stay in the fight.”
Lefty Tyler Holton, who has allowed one run in his last nine innings of work, pitched two scoreless innings and Kenley Jansen earned his ninth save of the season.
“Dingler’s homer changed the whole path at the end of the game,” Hinch said. “With a 4-1 lead, we could run Holton through (Miguel) Vargas, (Edgar) Quero and (Colin) Montgomery in the eighth. Those are dangerous guys and we saw that a month ago (when the White Sox swept the Tigers in Chicago). We were able to flip their lefties out in the seventh, allowing Kenley to have a few righties in the ninth.
“It was as good a win as we’ve had, and it’s a series win.”
But just a couple of innings earlier, the Comerica Park faithful were expressing their displeasure. The pinch-hitting thing is starting to gnaw at them.
Coming into this series, the Tigers led baseball in pinch-hit attempts but were 29th with a .126 average and .443 OPS in those plate appearances. What was a fundamental strength the last two seasons has become a struggle and a flashpoint.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 4, White Sox 1
Jahmai Jones has become the face of this struggle. He has one role on the team and that is to hit left-handed pitching. He had a .980 OPS against lefties last season and gave Hinch a reliable and respected matchup tool.
But when Hinch chose to send Jones up to bat for Kerry Carpenter with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning, countering the White Sox move to bring in lefty Rock, the fans booed.
It’s been a very different year for Jones.
He broke an 0-for-21 skid with a single Friday night but was hitting just .177 with a .552 OPS against lefties. And the boos intensified after Jones struck out.
“Last night he came off the bench and got a hit and you’re trying to build off that,” Hinch said. “But today was about the moment. At that point we hadn’t done anything. We had the bases loaded.”
It was a bullpen game for the White Sox. Opener, lefty Sean Newcomb, retired nine straight hitters. Right-hander Tyler Davis got two outs but walked the bases loaded in fourth. White Sox manager Will Venable went to Rock with a 1-0 lead and with Carpenter coming up.
Carpenter walked back to the dugout and out popped Jones.
“I know the frustration when it doesn’t happen or we don’t come through,” Hinch said. “It would’ve been nice to break the game open a little bit. I don’t know how many opportunities would be there. The point of a bullpen game is they can pick the entry point of their guys. With the bases loaded — you saw Dingler’s swing, you saw Tork’s swing (Spencer Torkelson doubled to kickstart the sixth) — we needed a right-handed hitter on that guy.
“Unfortunately in that situation, regardless of the inning, I can’t assume that we’re going to get a better opportunity. And when it doesn’t work, you wish you could get the reentry rule. But that doesn’t happen. You have to make decisions in real time.”
But, as we said, it worked out.
Outman, who replaced Jones and took over in center field, ended up delivering the go-ahead knock in the sixth.
“Outman did a good job coming off the bench and doing a little bit of everything,” Hinch said. “His two base hits were key, he patrolled center field and got the stolen base. It’s nice to see his energy whether he’s in the starting lineup or coming off the bench.”
And, ironically, it was a left-on-left hit.
“It felt great,” Outman said. “Just tried to get something up, something hittable and be aggressive with runners in scoring position. I feel comfortable against (left-handed pitching). I don’t know if the numbers say that, but against like 90% of them, it’s feels like a normal at-bat.”
The Tigers (32-44) have a chance to return the favor and sweep the White Sox on Sunday.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers bats wake up in time to earn second straight win over White Sox
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Chris McCosky, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
