Abreu, LaRoche Lead White Sox To 12-3 Win Against Tigers
DETROIT (AP) — Jose Abreu hit a grand slam, Adam LaRoche added a three-run homer and four RBIs, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 12-3, on Saturday.
Chicago, which set a season high for runs, scored 11 runs in the third and fourth innings combined and collected a season-high 17 hits for the game. Abreu and LaRoche had three hits apiece, and Melky Cabrera matched a career high with four hits and knocked in two runs.
J.D. Martinez homered for Detroit, which lost for the second time in 11 games this season.
Chris Sale (2-0) cruised to the win, allowing two runs on four hits in six innings, walking one and striking out six. Zach Putnam pitched an inning and Kyle Drabek the final two.
Anibal Sanchez (1-2) gave up nine runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Chicago scored four runs in the third to take a 4-1 lead.
The big blow was LaRoche's three-run homer, which broke a 1-all tie. LaRoche lined Sanchez's 2-1 pitch over the right-field fence, down the line, for his third home run.
The White Sox added seven more in the fourth to make it 11-1.
Abreu's second career grand slam, and third homer of the season, sent Sanchez to the showers and followed Melky Cabrera's run-scoring single. Conor Gillespie singled in a run and Alexei Ramirez's sacrifice fly completed the scoring in the inning.
Martinez led off the bottom of the fourth with his fifth home run for an 11-2 score.
Chicago added a run in the fifth on LaRoche's RBI double.
Nick Castellanos singled in a run for the Tigers in the eighth.
Detroit took a 1-0 lead in the first on Miguel Cabrera's one-out RBI single. The hit scored Rajai Davis, who led off with a double.
Saturday was Miguel Cabrera's 32nd birthday.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Detroit's Justin Verlander won't pick up a baseball until Sunday after he was more sore than expected two days after throwing 80 pitches. The veteran right-hander is on the disabled list with a right triceps strain. "It wasn't an injury setback, he's just more sore than what we expected," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said before Saturday's game.
UP NEXT
Right-hander Shane Greene (2-0) will be Detroit's starter in Sunday's series finale (1:08 p.m.) and rubber game. He hasn't allowed a run in 16 innings his first two starts as a Tiger and has only surrendered seven hits. Left-hander Jose Quintana (1-0, 4.09) will start for Chicago.
(© 2015 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)