Bats come alive as Tigers end five-game skid

DETROIT (AP) — Nicholas Castellanos had three hits and drove in a pair of runs as the Detroit Tigers ended a five-game losing streak with a 9-7 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.

Grayson Greiner had a career-high three hits and two RBIs for the Tigers. Miguel Cabrera, playing on his 36th birthday, also drove in a pair of runs as Detroit set season highs for runs and hits (14).

With the score tied at 7, Greiner led off the eighth with a single and moved up when Carson Fulmer (0-1) hit both JaCoby Jones and Josh Harrison with pitches. Castellanos and Cabrera put the Tigers ahead with back-to-back sacrifice flies.

Drew VerHagen (1-0) picked up the win after recording the last out of the eighth inning. Shane Greene pitched the ninth for his ninth save in nine attempts.

Neither starter was involved in the decision. Detroit’s Tyson Ross pitched six-plus innings, allowing five runs — two earned — on seven hits. Ivan Nova gave up six runs on 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings.

The Tigers trailed 5-4 going into the bottom of the seventh, but Castellanos ended Nova’s day with a game-tying double with one out, and Cabrera greeted Kelvin Herrera with an RBI single.

Niko Goodrum doubled and the White Sox loaded the bases by intentionally walking Jeimer Candelario. Dustin Peterson hit into a force at second, scoring Cabrera with Detroit’s seventh run, but Wellington Castillo tied it with a two-run homer in the eighth.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Gordon Beckham singled and scored on Greiner’s double. The same pair teamed up again in the fourth, with Beckham singling, stealing second and scoring Detroit’s second run on Greiner’s single.

Chicago made it 2-1 in the fifth, then took a 4-2 lead with three unearned runs in the sixth. With two out, Goodrum misplayed Yonder Alonso’s grounder to first and Eloy Jimenez followed with his third home run.

Tim Anderson singled, stole second and went to third on Greiner’s throwing error. Castillo hit a grounder to short and Beckham misplayed it for Detroit’s third error of the inning as Anderson scored.

Detroit made it 4-all in the sixth on three singles and a wild pitch. Ryan Cordell homered to put Chicago ahead 5-4 in the seventh.

TRAINER’S ROOM

WHITE SOX: Put RHP Lucas Giolito on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring and recalled Fulmer from Triple-A Charlotte. “It looks like he’ll miss a couple starts and get all his treatments done. At that point, we’ll reassess how he’s doing,” manager Rick Renteria said.

TIGERS: Detroit put OF Christin Stewart on the 10-day injured list with a left quad pull sustained on Wednesday night and recalled 1B Brandon Dixon from Triple-A Toledo. Before the move was even announced, Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire was concerned. “I guess they are calling it a strain or a sprain, but I think it is more than that,” he said.

CORDELL MAKES QUICK IMPACT

Cordell was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte before the game, got the start in right field and had three hits, including the seventh-inning homer that gave Chicago a 5-4 lead.

CABRERA’s BIRTHDAY

Cabrera came into the game with a .389 batting average in 13 games on his birthday and doubled in the first inning before his RBI single in the seventh and sacrifice fly in the eighth.

UP NEXT

The teams play the second game of their four-game weekend series on Friday night. Detroit’s Jordan Zimmermann (0-2, 4.29) will face Chicago’s Carlos Rodon (2-2, 3.27).