CHICAGO (AP) — Matt Vierling had an RBI double in the first inning and a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh to help the Detroit Tigers to a 4-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.
Vierling’s single off White Sox reliever Justin Anderson in the seventh scored Parker Meadows. One out later, Colt Keith drove in Riley Greene from second with a single to extend Detroit’s lead to 4-2.
Tigers reliever Will Vest (3-4) got one out in the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the victory.
Starter Chris Flexen and the White Sox matched the MLB record for consecutive losses by a team in games in which Flexen started, falling for the 19th time. The Brewers and Chris Capuano had a run of 19 losses from May 13, 2007, to June 3, 2010.
With a win in the opener of a four-game series against Chicago, Vierling did not put any extra emphasis on the need to take advantage of the struggling White Sox.
“I think that it’s important to keep the same approach. I think if you think differently, that’s when it goes bad, that’s when you can get out of your game a little a bit. But we’re just trying to play the same baseball we’ve been playing for a while, just be aggressive and put to together good at-bats, yeah, try to keep the same mentality,” said Vierling.
The White Sox are 4-27 in the second half of the season and have the worst record in the MLB at 31-98.
Flexen is trying to avoid thinking about the current streak.
“At the end of the day, every time I take the mound — you’re trying to put a quality start, trying to put your team in a position to win, have a strong outing, stick to a game plan, and be competitive and that’s all I can focus on,” Flexen said.
Fraser Ellard (1-2) worked a third of an inning and took the loss. He allowed a hit, a walk and two earned runs.
Flexen allowed back-to-back doubles in the first inning to Greene and Vierling as the Tigers took a 1-0 lead.
Jace Jung led off the second inning with a double, his first career extra-base hit, and scored on Dillon Dingler’s single to extend the Tigers’ lead.
“We’re happy with where we are anytime in the order the way this lineup is starting to lengthen out. It is putting a little less pressure on the top of that order,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch.
Lenyn Sosa cut into the Tigers’ advantage with an RBI single in the second inning. Sosa also made a nice defensive play in the third inning, fielding Spencer Torkelson’s ball at third base in the outfield grass and throwing Torkelson out at first.
Flexen settled down and pitched six quality innings. He gave up two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks in the no-decision.
“He was fantastic. I know he’s been working hard every day to get to what he did today. It’s fantastic and obviously to command the strike zone, they got to him early, but he locked it in and gave us a good quality start,” said Korey Lee.
Lee tied the game with an RBI double in the fourth inning off Tigers starter Keider Montero.
Montero allowed two runs on six hits in five innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Tigers: SS Javier Báez was placed on the 10-day injured list with right hip and lumbar spine inflammation. Hinch said they will know more about the injury after Báez undergoes more tests.
White Sox: According to White Sox general manager Chris Getz, 3B Yoán Moncada is starting a rehab assignment next week in Triple-A Charlotte. He’s expected to play on Tuesday. Moncada has been on the injured list since April 10 with an abductor strain. … RHP Michael Soroka threw a live bullpen session on Friday. He’ll be headed to Charlotte for a rehab assignment. Soroka has been on the injured list for just over a month with a right shoulder strain.
UP NEXT
Tigers : LHP Tarik Skubal (14-4) will attempt to win a MLB-leading 15th game on Saturday. He currently leads the majors with a 2.49 ERA. The White Sox will send LHP Ky Bush (0-2) as their scheduled starter. In his third career start, he allowed one run on four hits in six innings at Houston. He was 7-4 with a 2.89 ERA between Triple-A Charlotte and Double-A Birmingham.
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