Davidson, Abreu homer as White Sox hold off Tigers
DETROIT - The White Sox haven't had much success against the Detroit Tigers this season.
It isn't because of Jose Abreu and Matt Davidson.
On Wednesday, Abreu and Davidson each hit 2-run homer, combined for 6 hits and drove in 5 of the Sox's runs in a 6-5 victory.
Abreu is hitting .336 with 17 home runs in 84 games against the Tigers in his career, while Davidson is at .370 with 7 homers in 23 games.
"Baseball is a very complex game," Abreu said through a translator. "(Jordan Zimmermann) had a bad game and we had a good game. He's a good pitcher, but we hit some balls hard off him."
The White Sox have won two in a row after losing six of seven. They are 3-9 against the Tigers this season. "We had a good game today, and sometimes things work out your way," Abreu said.
The Tigers have lost nine of 12.
Carlos Rodon (4-3) improved to 3-0 in his last 7 starts, giving up 3 runs and 5 hits and a walk in 8 innings. He struck out six in his seventh straight quality start.
Rodon thinks his partnership with catcher Omar Narvaez has played a major role in his hot streak.
"Omar and I are clicking, so our sequencing is good," he said. "I started out throwing sliders in the zone, and once they started swinging, I got them to chase outside the zone."
Trailing 6-3 in the ninth, the Tigers put their first two runners on, but Jeanmar Gomez struck out James McCann. White Sox manager Rick Renteria brought in Luis Avilan, and Victor Martinez loaded the bases with a pinch-hit single.
Mikie Mahtook grounded into a force at second, allowing Nicholas Castellanos to score Detroit's fourth run, and Grayson Greiner's RBI single made it 6-5 with the tying and winning runs on base.
Avilan got Victor Reyes to fly out to shallow center, earning his second save.
"We gave ourselves a chance, which is what you want, but you aren't going to win too many games by having to come from 3 down in the ninth," Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Renteria, who is using several pitchers in save situations, wasn't too worried about the near-miss. "They hit some balls through the infield, but our guys kept battling," he said. "We did what we needed to do."
Jordan Zimmermann (5-5) took the loss, allowing 6 runs and 9 hits, including the 2 home runs. Zimmermann struck out four while falling to 1-5 with a 5.85 ERA in his past 6 starts.
"I thought I threw a lot of good pitches, but I wasn't putting guys away with two strikes," he said. "I had the 4 strikeouts, but there were too many times where I left a two-strike pitch over the plate to get hit."
The White Sox scored twice in the third. With one out, Nicky Delmonico's double put runners on second and third, and Yolmer Sanchez and Abreu followed with RBI singles.
The Tigers loaded the bases with no one out in the bottom of the inning. Jose Iglesias made it 2-1 with an RBI single before Castellanos put Detroit ahead 3-2 with a two-run single.
Davidson gave the White Sox a 4-3 edge with a fourth-inning homer, and Abreu's home run over the Sox's bullpen made it 6-3 in the fifth.
"You've got to keep the ball in the park," Zimmermann said. "You can survive giving up a lot of basehits, but only if you keep it in the park."