Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers

· Major League Baseball

Chicago White Sox

39-121, 16-63 Away

Final
1 - 4

Detroit Tigers

86-74, 43-36 Home

Tigers clinch AL wild card, ending playoff drought with 4-1 win over record-breaking White Sox

“Belief is a big thing,” Greene said. “We never stopped believing, and that’s what did it for us.”

Detroit completed a late-season surge to grab an American League wild card, and the White Sox earned an unwanted place in baseball history by setting a modern major league mark with 121 losses this season.

“They were still playing for something,” Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson said.

The Tigers will play at Baltimore or AL West champion Houston next week in a best-of-three Wild Card Series. They have been on a tear, winning six straight and 10 of 11 during a stunning run into the playoffs.

The White Sox broke the post-1900 record of 120 losses set by the New York Mets in 1962 during their first season. The overall record was set in 1899 by the Cleveland Spiders with a 20-134 record.

“I think the frustration began long before the number got here," Chicago interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “This was one of those things: You aren’t happy, but I don’t know if that would feel any different at 115 or 110.”

Taking advantage of playing a historically bad team, Detroit broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning on Jake Rogers’ run when Jared Shuster was charged with a wild pitch even though the ball didn’t hit the dirt just below catcher Korey Lee’s glove. Matt Vierling followed with a sacrifice fly.

White Sox rookie Zach DeLoach hit his first homer in the sixth to pull his lowly team within a run.

Greene restored Detroit’s two-run lead with a double in the seventh and Chicago helped the home team’s cause again later in the inning when Fraser Ellard threw his club's third wild pitch of the night.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch relied on his bullpen for the entire game, as he often has late in the season, and it worked again.

“I’m overwhelmed with joy because I get to watch a team grow up right in front of my eyes and now I get to watch this team play in October,” Hinch said.

Brenan Hanifee kept the White Sox scoreless for the first two innings, and Brant Hurter (6-1) allowed a run over four innings.

Will Vest and Tyler Holton combined to hold Chicago scoreless for 2 2/3 innings. Jason Foley got one out for his 28th save to the delight of fired-up fans, who stood and cheered for much of the night.

Shuster (2-5) allowed two runs in two innings. Ellard gave up as many runs (two) as he got outs.

After the final out, the White Sox quietly went to their clubhouse while the Tigers swarmed the field, hugging each other and posing for photos.

“It is tough watching them celebrate," Chicago starting pitcher Garrett Crochet said after throwing four scoreless innings. "That was us just a couple years ago.”

Detroit had not announced a pitching plan for Saturday's game. RHP Sean Burke (1-0, 1.93 ERA) is scheduled to start for Chicago.

This story corrects Houston to AL West champion in the fifth paragraph.

How can I watch Chicago White Sox vs. Detroit Tigers?

TV Channel: White Sox at Tigers 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Tigers: 70.9%

White Sox: 29.1%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Vaughn flied out to right.
	9th Inning	Foley relieved Holton
	9th Inning	Benintendi grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, DeLoach out at second.
	9th Inning	DeLoach grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Vargas out at second.
	9th Inning	Vargas walked.
	9th Inning	Keith at second base.

Statistics

CHW		DET
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
0	Ground Balls	0
4	Strikeouts	10
1	Runs Batted In	2
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
3	Hits	8
0	Stolen Bases	0
1	Walks	7
0	Catcher Interference	0
1	Runs	4
0	Ground Into Double Play	1
0	Sacrifice Flies	1
30	At Bats	30
1	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
7	Runners Left On Base	18
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	2
1	Doubles	4
0	Fly Balls	0
0	Caught Stealing	0
111	Pitches	144
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
7	Total Bases	12
31	Plate Appearances	38
162.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
2	Extra Base Hits	4
0.2	Runs Created	5.2
.100	Batting Average	.267
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.233	Slugging Percentage	.400
.167	Secondary Average	.367
.129	On Base Percentage	.395
.362	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.795
0.0	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.0
0.2	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	5.8
12.0	Batter Rating	28.0
30.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.58	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.79
.133	Isolated Power	.133
0.25	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.70
.032	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.184
.067	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.100
2.0	Runs Produced	6.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	0.5
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.5
0.1	Balls In Play Average	0.4
63.5	MLB Rating	79.0
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0