Tigers Beat White Sox 5-3, Cut Division Lead To 2 Games
CHICAGO (AP) — Doug Fister pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, Austin Jackson hit a tying two-run homer and Miguel Cabrera delivered a go-ahead solo shot Tuesday night to lead the Detroit Tigers past the White Sox 5-3, reducing Chicago's AL Central lead to two games.
The division's top two teams have now split the first two of a four-game series, their last head-to-head matchup this season. The Tigers ended a four-game losing streak and have beaten the White Sox eight times in the last nine meetings.
Jackson's 14th homer followed a single by Omar Infante in the top of the fifth off Jake Peavy. One batter later, Cabrera hit his 36th of the season to put the Tigers up 3-2.
The only two hits Fister (9-8) gave up were solo homers to Dewayne Wise in the first and Gordon Beckham in the third that gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead. He walked two and struck out six and is 7-2 in 11 starts after the All-Star game.
Peavy (10-11) couldn't hold the early lead. He threw 117 pitches in 5 2-3 innings, yielding six hits, walking two and striking out nine.
The Tigers added two runs in the eighth on RBI singles by Alex Avila and Andy Dirks and had the bases loaded before Cabrera hit into a double play.
Chicago got consecutive singles from Alexei Ramirez, Beckham and Alejandro De Aza off Joaquin Benoit to open the bottom of the eighth and cut the lead to 5-3. But Benoit regrouped to strike out Kevin Youkilis and Wise before retiring Paul Konerko on a grounder to end the threat.
Alex Rios reached on an infield single to start Chicago's ninth off Jose Valverde, who then retired the next three batters for his 29th save in 33 chances.
Wise, batting third with Adam Dunn missing a fifth straight game with a right oblique strain, hit a long two-out homer to right in the first, his eighth of the season. Beckham hit his career-high 15th homer and second in two nights, leading off the third.
NOTES: The Tigers had managed only six runs total during their four-game losing streak. ... Peavy has given up 22 homers this season. ... Wise has hit five of his homers with the White Sox. He also played with the Yankees this season. Chicago called him up on Aug. 11. ... Gavin Floyd (9-9) will come off the DL (elbow) and start Wednesday's game for the White Sox against Detroit's 15-game winner Max Scherzer. ... Beckham had 14 homers in 2009 as a rookie.
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