Day after clinching playoff spot, Tigers shut out in soggy loss to White Sox

DETROIT — As hangover games go, well, this was one of them.

"Let me go through the best things that happened today," manager AJ Hinch said. "Jackson Jobe was excellent and we got a chance to extend him out. Sean Guenther was as efficient as you could possibly be. And we got to check off a day on the calendar.

"That's about it."

The Tigers, who celebrated their first playoff berth in 10 years Friday night, slogged through a 4-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox Saturday before a soggy crowd at Comerica Park. It was announced as another sellout with 41,933 tickets sold, but the elements thinned the crowd significantly.

It didn’t help the sluggish tempo and flagging energy that the game was delayed for two hours and 20 minutes and played in a steady rain.

"No excuses whatsoever," Hinch said. "There was a lot of energy coming in the morning off of last night and then we had to sit around a bit. It wasn't a great day to play but it was a day we certainly could've played and done better."

The Tigers (86-75) came in a game ahead of the Kansas City Royals (85-75) for the second wild-card spot. The Royals, who played at Atlanta Saturday night, own the tiebreaker with Detroit.

Regardless of the outcome in Atlanta, the Tigers won’t know whether they are heading to Houston or Baltimore for the wild-card Series until Sunday.

Jobe was the highlight of the day for the Tigers.

"On really tough day to pitch, in terms of it being wet and dreary, borderline Gotham City, he was effective and throwing all of his pitches," Hinch said. "And he got a little better as he got more comfortable being back on the mound."

The White Sox nicked opener Beau Brieske. With two outs in the second, rookie Bryan Ramos dropped his barrel on a 1-1 changeup at the bottom of the strike zone and launched it inside the foul pole in left.

Jobe took over in the third inning and pitched three scoreless, hitless innings in his second big-league game.

"I felt good," he said. "I felt pretty comfortable despite the conditions. Overall, I'm happy with my outing."

He effectively mixed cutters, changeups and sweepers off a firm 96.7-mph four-seam fastball. And that mix is what Hinch and the pitching staff was looking for.

"We've got to remember in this bullpen role that he is a four- or five-pitch guy," Hinch said. "He's got a lot of things he can do to a hitter. We don't want to turn him into a two-pitch power reliever. That is not why he is here and that's not how we're going to use him."

From the sound of it, Jobe had no intention of limiting his arsenal, same for his catcher Dillon Dingler, who made a point of calling more sweepers in this outing.

"I felt like that pitch was exactly like I wanted it to be," Jobe said. "Flipping it early for strikes. Showing four different pitches out of the bullpen, I think that's a pretty big deal to be able to mix like that. Especially if I want to face a lineup more than once."

The changeup was baffling White Sox hitters, especially the 2-2 changeup he threw — right-on-right — to freeze catcher Chuckie Robinson in the fifth for his first big-league strikeout.

"It was great to get that out of the way," he said. "Super special. I am definitely going to get that ball."

The White Sox, who set a new MLB record with their 121st loss Friday, scored three runs off rookie righty Ty Madden. And Andrew Benintendi did most of the heavy lifting. He doubled and scored on a single by Andrew Vaughn in the sixth and he smashed his 20th home run in the eighth, a two-run shot.

Lefty Guenther, who has pitched his way into being a vital weapon for Hinch, dispatched the White Sox in the ninth on nine pitches.

And, with 36 comeback wins on their resume this season, there was ample precedent for the Tigers fighting back. But the bats never ignited.

They were first subdued by White Sox rookie right-hander Sean Burke. With his 6-foot-6 frame and elite arm extension (7 feet), he was beating hitters with elevated four-seam fastballs that played faster than the 95-mph radar gun reading.

The Tigers worked two walks and 29 pitches from him in the first inning but he quickly settled in, allowing two hits with six strikeouts through five innings.

Veteran Michael Soroka, back after missing two months with a shoulder injury, didn't allow a hit and struck out five in his three innings.

The Tigers finally got their third hit of the game with one out in the ninth. Wenceel Perez tripled to the right-center gap against Gus Varland. He advanced no farther.

"It was a miserable day to play, but it was a day to play," Hinch said. "The White Sox had the same elements we had. I'm glad it's over. I'm glad we can check it off the calendar and get to tomorrow."

Hinch pulled outfielders Parker Meadows and Kerry Carpenter after the eighth inning. There was no injury, it was more precautionary, given the wet ground.

"Once Carp jumped into the fence on the (Benintendi) homer, that was enough," Hinch said. "He was fine but I was like, they're done."

____