Jack Flaherty pitched six effective innings in his Detroit debut and Andy Ibáñez snapped a tie with a pinch-hit single in the ninth, sending the Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
Kerry Carpenter and Jake Rogers homered for the Tigers, who are 3-0 for the first time since 2016. Each of their wins in their season-opening series at Chicago was decided by one run.
“The adrenaline and the energy this team has shown so far you can see in the results,” Ibáñez said through a translator.
Paul DeJong and Korey Lee went deep for the White Sox.
Tyler Holton (1-0) got the win by striking out four in 1 1/3 innings. Jason Foley got Andrew Vaughn and Braden Shewmake to ground out to earn his second save.
Detroit manager A.J. Hinch sent Ibáñez up to hit for Parker Meadows with runners on first and second and two out. He responded with a single to left against left-hander Tim Hill, driving in pinch-runner Matt Vierling for a 3-2 lead.
Chicago White Sox
“You’ve got to be prepared for it,” Hinch said. “The players did an unbelievable job all weekend being ready for situations and there was a lot of action in that last inning.”
Steven Wilson (0-1) was tagged with the loss after he allowed a hit and a walk while recording two outs.
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The White Sox are 0-3 to start a season for the first time since 2015.
Flaherty gave up a run and four hits while striking out seven. The right-hander signed a $14 million, one-year contract with the Tigers in free agency.
Lee homered on Flaherty’s first pitch in the third. DeJong tied it at 2 when he went deep on the first pitch from Andrew Chafin in the seventh.
Carpenter connected in the fourth and Rogers added another solo shot off Erick Fedde in the fifth.
Mark Canha was thrown out at home in the sixth, bumping into catcher Lee. They briefly exchanged words before both teams headed to their dugouts.
Canha had tried to score on shortstop DeJong’s errant throw into right field on a grounder.
“These are heartbreakers, three one-run games,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “Could have gone our way. Didn’t go our way. Our pitching was excellent. Our defense, we had one miscue today and we backed it up with good defense back there.”
Fedde struck out seven and allowed five hits in 4 2/3 innings in his Chicago debut. The right-hander signed a $15 million, two-year contract in December after pitching in South Korea last season.
“I just kept pulling my sweeper over the left side to the point where it wasn’t competitive today,” Fedde said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: DH Eloy Jiménez (left adductor soreness) exited after grounding out in the sixth. Grifol said Jiménez felt it when he was running.
UP NEXT
Tigers: RHP Reese Olson will start Monday at New York, and LHP Sean Manaea will make his Mets debut. Olson went 5-7 with a 3.99 ERA as a rookie last season. Manaea finalized a $28 million, two-year deal in January.
White Sox: RHP Chris Flexen will face Atlanta and RHP Charlie Morton on Monday. Flexen signed with Chicago in free agency.
