Detroit Tigers defeat Chicago White Sox 5-4 – MLB Update
Justin Verlander tossed eight strong innings on Tuesday, July 26 to help the Detroit Tigers beat Chicago White Sox 5-4 at U.S. Cellular Field.
The Tigers managed to fight back with characteristic fashion and executed a wonderful yet difficult victory.
Verlander had a decisive role to play in the game coupled with closer Jose Velverde’s ninth inning shut-out to complete the victory. Verlander allowed four runs in the eight innings to keep the Tigers floating.
"Huge win. A lot of guys shy away from saying how big a series is at this point in the season, but I think it's a big win for us," Verlander said. The win came at a time when the White Sox were performing comparatively better since the start of the game
and the series as whole.
However, the Tigers being up with 55 wins and the White Sox trailing with 50 wins, the former had to put into action a game that improved their record even further.
"These guys had the momentum coming into today. Obviously we're in first place and they need to catch up. A sweep would be huge for those guys. The course of the game was really a seesaw battle." he said.
After Jake Peavy threw a scoreless first inning, Verlander made a seemingly inept start. In his 3-hit first inning, he allowed two runs to Chicago’s offence, coming off the hitter Adam Dunn’s bat who homered to give the White Sox an early 2-0 lead.
Peavy certainly knew the trick how best to contain the Tigers’ offence. His endeavour to be faster in his pitching spells paid off until the fourth inning when Miguel Cabrera scored the first run for the Tigers to bring the lead down 2-1.
Verlander, on the other hand, compensated for the first inning disaster with more energetic innings that saw the White Sox offence strain and finding it difficult to score.
Miguel Cabrera started a wonderful sixth inning against Peavy with another single to his credit, levelling the score. It did not stop there, as Victor Martinez scored a successive single followed by an RBI single coming off Jhonny Peralta’s bat that gave
the Tigers a 4-2 lead.
Paul Konerko hit a two-run homer against Verlander in the sixth to level the score, but that did not prompt him being changed. He kept on pitching while Will Ohman came to pitch for the White Sox. However, Ohman fell to a hit by Wilson Betemit that gave
the Tigers a seemingly irreversible 5-4 lead.
Verlander threw a strong eighth inning followed by closer Jose Valverde’s shut-out ninth to turn the 5-4 lead into victory, bringing the Tigers back in the three-game series.
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