White Sox emerge from the muck to top Tigers in 10
Liam Hendriks' scorching run of success was bound to end at some point, and it came to a screeching halt against the Tigers Friday at Comerica Park.
It could have been a night to forget in soggy Detroit, but the White Sox pushed a run home in the top of the 10th and beat the Tigers 5-4.
"It got a little hairy there, but we'll take it," Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito said.
The outcome could have been decided about an hour earlier, when Hendriks came out of the bullpen in the bottom of the ninth with a 4-2 lead. The closer was riding a streak of 12 straight saves and 17 consecutive scoreless innings.
As Hendriks took the mound to face Miguel Cabrera, the skies opened up and heavy rains came down.
Not happy at all, Hendriks barked at home plate umpire Chris Conroy until play was halted.
"I slipped on one of the warmup pitches and then every ball I was getting was actually wet," Hendriks said. "That was what I told (Conroy), every ball I was getting is wet. They were trying to get this game over with, but it was to the point where I didn't have any clue. The ball was slipping out of my hand, I had no idea where it was going. That's not safe for anybody."
Following a 49-minute delay, Hendriks came back out for the ninth and gave up a leadoff single to Cabrera. With one out, Daz Cameron hit a 2-run homer off Hendriks to tie the game and force extra innings.
The son of former White Sox outfielder Mike Cameron, Daz turned on a 97-mph fastball for his first major league home run.
"It didn't have any effect," Hendriks said of the delay. "I just needed to throw a better pitch. One unfortunate pitch I wish I had back, but at the end of the day I'm still going to throw that pitch again."
Aaron Bummer came on in relief for the Sox in the 10th inning with a 5-4 lead courtesy of Yoan Moncada's sac fly and a slick slide by Danny Mendick at the plate.
Having allowed 9 earned runs over his last 7⅔ innings, Bummer issued a leadoff walk before retiring the final three Detroit hitters.
"I'm thrilled for him," La Russa said. "This is a big-time champion and that's the kind of pitcher he is and the confidence he needs. Happy for us, thrilled for him."
Giolito pitched 6 innings and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits. A biting slider helped him pile up 9 strikeouts.
"I had a pretty good feel with the slider," Giolito said. "I definitely relied on that heavily. The first couple of innings were a little bit of a battle but as the game went on I felt things were sinking into place."