Melton struggles as White Sox take the series

On a blustery, wet Sunday evening in Chicago, Troy Melton struggled through a shaky outing and left in the fourth with an apparent injury. The Tigers didn’t swing the bats that well, though they had their chances, but the bullpen crumbled in the middle innings to put this one out of reach. The Tigers lost 8-1, with the White Sox taking three of four in the series.

Troy Melton was looking to get back on track after a little rough stretch on Sunday. After missing the first 10 weeks of the season with elbow trouble, the right-hander was great until late August, but recently looks like he’s running out of gas as he nears 130 total innings on the year. The White Sox sent a reasonably good right-hander in Davis Martin to oppose him. This one was delayed for four hours due to rain, but there was nothing to do but wait as this game had to be completed for its playoff implications. Most of the game was dogged by a steady drizzle that made things tricky for both pitchers.

Martin had an easy time of it in the top of the first. Kevin McGonigle grounded out, Gleyber Torres struck out, and Hao-Yu Lee flew out to right field.

Sam Antonacci burned a challenge as the first White Sox hitter of the game, but he singled to Brett Callahan in right field. Melton got Kyle Teel whiffing on a slider that was tipped into the glove, but first the Sox catcher burned their second challenge and they were out of challenges two batters into the game. Melton blew Vargas away with a good heater, but then clipped Munetaka Murakami with a curveball. So it was first and second with two outs for Andrew Benintendi, who pulled a hot one-hopper to first. Spencer Torkelson knocked it down, collected it, and flipped to Melton to refute the White Sox threat.

Rain was pretty steadily coming down in the top of the second. Riley Greene took a called third strike to start the inning. Eduardo Valencia pulled a sharp groundball single into left field. Max Clark showed bunt and then pulled it back first pitch, taking a curveball for a strike. He fouled off a heater but chopped one to second for a force of Valencia. A 3-2 slider to Torkelson backed up and hit him in the back, and so it was two on, two outs for Callahan. The corner outfielder was hunting a breaking ball as Martin continued to lean on his curve and slider, and he crushed a ball to right field that looked gone off the bat, but the wind and water knocked it down at the wall for the final out.

Melton was spraying it again to start the second inning, walking Colson Montgomery to start the inning. Chase Meidroth bounced into a force at second base. With Braden Montgomery at the plate, Melton spun and tried a pickoff throw but slipped on the muddy mound. Meidroth broke for second and Melton heard his teammates but auto fired to first, allowing Meidroth to reach. Melton was clearly irritated with himself, with the mound, shaking off Valencia repeatedly, and then trying to calm himself down. In a 3-2 count, he hung a slider up and Montgomery pulled a hard grounder past Torkelson for an RBI single. 1-0 White Sox. Brenton Doyle flew out to Clark on a sliding catch for the second out. A first pitch cutter to Antonacci drew a sharp comebacker but Melton snared it and flipped to first to end the inning.

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The third started with Martin walking John Peck, turning the Tigers lineup over. McGonigle worked a full count, but swung a bit late at a cutter up and away to strike out. Peck tried to steal second and Teel’s throw was in the dirt, but Meidroth picked it and got the tag down in the nick of time. Torres flew out to end the frame.

Teel flew out to start the bottom of the third, but Melton walked Vargas. He bounced back to punch out Murakami with a good slider in the zone and was doing his best to battle. Benintendi worked a full count, but Melton snapped off a great curveball to whiff him and end the inning. Still 1-0 White Sox.

Martin locked up Lee with a curveball to start the fourth. Greene lifted a high fly to left and the thick, wet air knocked it down right behind the shortstop Montgomery, who didn’t even attempt to make a play. Instead, Antonacci had to run full tilt in toward the dirt and making a diving catch. Valencia lined a single to center and a passed ball got him to second. Clark walked, and so it was up to the bottom of the Tigers’ lineup to even this one up. Torkelson battled into a full count, but took a slider for strike three.

Melton walked Colson Montgomery to open the bottom of the fourth, still struggling to spot his stuff to a degree. Meidroth lined out to Peck for the first out. Brayden Montgomery grounded out to Lee at third, but Torres was late to get to second base and they settled for the out at first. A 2-2 slider to Antonacci was ripped to right field and just died in the wet grass. Both runners scored, and the left fielder cruised into second base. 3-0 White Sox.

Things got worse, as Melton missed with a first pitch sinker to Teel. He looked uncomfortable, and Valencia and Chris Fetter both came out to the mound, and then called for AJ Hinch and the trainers. Melton left the game, and he did shake out his arm a bit two pitches earlier, and seemed to keep extending it as he left the field with the trainer. Nothing to do but hope for the best there as he was no doubt cranking his grips in the rainy conditions. Either way, his season is over.

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Tyler Holton made haste to get ready, but immediately gave up a single to Teel that scored Antonacci. 4-0 White Sox. Holton then walked Vargas, bringing Murakami to the dish, but after a long battle, Holton walked him as well. Randal Grichuk entered as a pinch-hitter for Benintendi, and still the steady drizzle continued as he flew out to Clark in center field.

Callahan started the fifth with a solid single into right field. Peck struck out, but that was the end of the day for Martin. Will Venable turned to tough lefty Hagen Smith to tackle McGonigle. Instead, Smith walked McGonigle to put two on for Torres. Smith got ahead of Torres 0-1, but back to back challenges for Torres were correct, making it a 2-1 count, and the Tigers second baseman walked to load the bases. And then Lee struck out and Greene swung first pitch and grounded out to strand everyone. Great work, guys.

Ty Madden took over in the bottom half, and promptly gave up a single to Colson Montgomery, and then a two-run shot to left off the bat of Meidroth. He cleaned up the rest of the inning, but it was 6-0 White Sox.

Right-hander Huascar Brazobán entered in the sixth. He got a fly out from Valencia, and Clark popped up on the infield. Torkelson got ahead 2-0 and pulled one into the left field corner for a double, but Callahan grounded out to first.

Teel flew out to start the bottom half. Vargas popped one foul into foul territory near the visitor’s dugout but Torkelson just dropped it. Madden then walked Vargas, balked him to second, and then had his foot slip again, bouncing a wild pitch to get him to third. Murakami grounded one sharply to Torres at second, and Vargas had to hold at third. So it was two outs, man on third with Grichuk up, and he flew out to Clark to end the inning.

Trevor Richards tossed a 1-2-3 top of the seventh.

Callahan made a great diving catch down the right field line to retire Colson Montgomery in the bottom half. Meidroth struck out, but Brayden Montgomery slashed a single to left. Doyle drove a ball hard out to center, but Clark had a really good jump on it and handled it easily.

Richards was still on in the eighth, and he got Lee to fly out to right. Riley Greene followed with a double to right, and Valencia singled up the middle to get Greene to third. Max Clark lifted a sacrifice fly to score Greene to make it a 6-1 game, but after Torkelson walked, Callahan flew out to end the top of the eighth.

Brant Hurter took over in the bottom of the eighth. Tommy Pham hit for Antonacci and singled. He was then lifted for pinch-runner Tristan Peters. Good work if you can get it. A brief calm in the weather in the seventh quickly came to an end as the rain and wind picked up again.

Hurter walked Teel, and Vargas reached on a grounder to third that Lee couldn’t make a play on. Hurter walked Murakami to force in a run. Grichuk lifted a sacrifice fly to score Teel. Colson Montgomery flew out, and Meidroth struck out to end the inning. 8-1 White Sox.

Veteran starter Luis Castillo entered to finish this off in the top of the ninth as Venable was desperately trying to get some of his middle relievers a day off. John Peck popped out, and McGonigle flew out to leave it up to Gleyber Torres. The veteran second baseman fouled off a slew of two-strike pitches before whiffing on a heater to end it.

The Tigers are now eliminated officially from postseason contention. They come home for the final week of the season against the Nationals and then the Pirates. Top prospect River Ryan will make his Tigers debut on Monday night in Comerica Park against the Nationals, with Keider Montero slated to take over after a short outing for Ryan.

White Sox 8, Tigers 1: Box Score

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