September 28 – Matt Werling and Riley Greene each drove in a run and the host Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 4–1 on Friday night to advance to the playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons.
The White Sox (39-121) set the modern record for most losses in a season, surpassing the 1962 expansion New York Mets. The Tigers won six consecutive games to secure a wild-card spot in the American League.
Detroit (86-74) holds a one-game lead over Kansas City (85-75) for the second AL wild card. The Royals also clinched a playoff spot Friday despite losing 3-0 to the Atlanta Braves. If the Royals tie the Tigers, they will win the tiebreaker.
Detroit opener Brennan Hanifee allowed only one hit in two scoreless innings. Brandt Hurt (6-1) allowed one run on two hits over the next four innings.
Will West, Tyler Holton and Jason Foley earned the win by preventing Chicago from scoring over the last three innings. Foley struck out the only batter he faced in his 28th save.
Chicago starter Garrett Crotchet pitched four scoreless innings, giving up four hits and one run while striking out six. Zach DeLoach hit his first career home run in the top of the sixth inning.
Detroit broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning against Jared Shuster (2-5). Walker loaded the bases on Jake Rodgers and Andy Ibanez, then Parker Meadows singled with no outs. Rodgers scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch before Werling hit a sacrifice fly to remove Meadows.
In the sixth inning, DeLoach singled to right field with two outs, giving the White Sox a 2–1 lead.
The Tigers added two more runs in the seventh.
Ibanez hit a double to left-center and moved to third on center fielder Dominic Fletcher’s error. Frazer Allard intentionally walked Wehrling, and then Green hit a double to score Ibanez. Wehrling then scored on another wild play.
DeLoach hit a ground-rule double in Game 1 and moved to third on a grounder. He ran into trouble when Andrew Vaughn suddenly appeared.
Wehrling hit a double in the bottom of the inning before Crockett struck out the next two batters.
After Greene’s single, the Tigers threatened in the fourth inning on Vincel Perez’s infield hit and Spencer Torkelson’s double. Trey Sweeney homered to end the inning.
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