Trailing late, the White Sox let runs slip in the eighth, ninth and 10th, falling 5-4 to the Tigers Sunday and getting swept in the three-game series in Detroit. The loss keeps their grip on first place tight as the Guardians sit one game behind in the America
DETROIT — The White Sox didn’t just lose Sunday. They watched two-run leads vanish in the eighth, a one-run advantage slip away in the ninth, and another late edge disappear in the 10th, falling to the Tigers 5-4 and getting swept in the three-game series.
It’s the kind of ending that makes a season feel both close and fragile at the same time, especially with the American League Central’s first-place race hanging over every pitch. Next up for the Sox are the Guardians, who also lost and lead the Sox by one game.
“They keep coming. There’s another really good opponent that we have,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “We’re excited to go back home and take care of business there.”
After a 1-5 road trip, that’s an understatement.
Davis Martin gave the Sox a chance to breathe, allowing one run in six innings. But the late stretch belonged to the Tigers. In the eighth, Grant Taylor—who hadn’t pitched in a game in a week—allowed a solo home run to Dillon Dingler. In the ninth, Seranthony Dominguez surrendered the tying run.
Dominguez had retired the first two batters before everything changed. He allowed three singles, including an infield hit where Jahmai Jones, who entered hitting .138 and was booed all weekend, barely beat a grounder in the hole to shortstop Luisangel Acuna. The Sox lost a challenge.
The Sox finally took the lead again in the 10th, but it didn’t hold. Brandon Eisert allowed two singles to tie the score. Then came a play that swung the inning: a third batter reached to load the bases when first baseman Jacob Gonzalez jumped to field a ball and immediately threw home without touching the bag. The runner at third never went home.
“It bounced high,” Gonzalez said. “First, I had to catch it. And I’m in the air, so there’s no time to look to see. So I just came up and let it rip.”
“It bounced high” wasn’t the only thing that mattered. Venable pointed to what it could have decided.
“Interesting play,” he said. “You want to think about that run. That’s the game-winning run there. [I] understand the thought; the play happens fast. Got to be able to see that he’s not going and get an out there. But we’ll learn from it.”
Jordan Hicks—reinstated from the injured list after recovering from a right lat strain—then allowed a bloop single to Matt Vierling that fell in front of a diving Braden Montgomery in right field.
“It feels bad because we don’t want to get swept,” Dominguez said. “We’re struggling a little bit. But we’re going to get out [of it], and things are going to turn around. We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
Offense came from one swing at the right time. Luisangel Acuna hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth—his first blast since 2024.
The sequence Sunday was unforgiving: Martin settled in for six innings, then late bullpen appearances unraveled the lead at the exact moments the Sox needed it most—eighth, ninth, and 10th—until the final run finally landed with Hicks on the mound.
After the sweep, the White Sox now turn to the Guardians, with first place still within reach and the calendar set to demand more from a bullpen that couldn’t protect what the lineup briefly built.
Notes
Left-hander Noah Schultz (knee) threw 2 ⅔ scoreless innings for Triple-A Charlotte on his rehab stint, allowing two hits and one walk and striking out four. He threw 57 pitches, 38 for strikes. Schultz might need one more outing before returning to the Sox.
Outfielder Everson Pereira still has some symptoms from the concussion he suffered crashing into the wall Wednesday in New York, including sensitivity to light—he was wearing shades inside the clubhouse—and he is not doing baseball activities.
Venable said that Munetaka Murakami, who is recovering from a strained right hamstring, has increased the intensity of his running; Venable said Murakami is up to 80% and hitting. There’s still no timeline for his return.
Upon activating Hicks, the Sox optioned rookie right-hander Tyler Davis to Triple-A Charlotte.
White Sox Tigers AL Central Will Venable Davis Martin Seranthony Dominguez Jordan Hicks Dillon Dingler Luisangel Acuna Everson Pereira Noah Schultz