Jake Rogers had three hits and three RBIs and Matt Vierling, Colt Keith, and Zach McKinstry homered as the visiting Detroit Tigers thumped the Chicago White Sox 13-4 on Saturday.
Winners of five of seven games, the Tigers outhit the White Sox 14-12 while sending Chicago to its 99th loss of the season, easily the worst in the majors.
Parker Meadows, Vierling, Keith and McKinstry each had two hits for the Tigers, who earned at least a split of the four-game series. Keith drove in three runs and McKinstry knocked in two.
The White Sox have lost seven of eight meetings with the Tigers this season. Corey Julks went 3-for-5 while Lenyn Sosa, Dominic Fletcher, Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn contributed two hits each. Vaughn had two RBIs.
Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal overcame occasional struggles to improve to 15-4 and win for the third time in four starts.
The American League Cy Young hopeful scattered three runs and eight hits in five innings while striking out eight against zero walks.
Trailing 5-0 in the bottom of the third, the White Sox opened with four straight hits, including RBI singles from Julks and Robert. After a strikeout, Vaughn added an RBI single, keeping two runners aboard, but Skubal escaped trouble with a lineout and flyout.
Four-run rallies in the third and fourth innings propelled Detroit, which was on the attack early. The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Vierling opened the night with a double, and Andy Ibanez following with an RBI single.
Vierling led off the third with a homer to center. Keith’s groundout brough home the second run of the inning, and Rogers and Meadows added RBI hits to make it 5-0.
Coming off the first quality start of his short career, White Sox rookie lefty Ky Bush yielded five runs and eight hits in three innings. Bush (0-3) struck out one and walked one.
Chicago reliever Touki Touissant walked the bases loaded to start the fourth. A groundout brought home one run, Spencer Torkelson singled home a second run and Rogers punctuated the rally with a two-run double against Touissant, who allowed four runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Detroit blew the game open with a four-run ninth. Keith and McKinstry reached John Brebbia for two-run homers.
–Field Level Media
