CHICAGO (AP) — Carson Kelly hit a run-scoring single in the seventh inning and again in the 10th, helping the Detroit Tigers rally for a 7-6 victory over Luis Robert Jr. and the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.
Mark Canha and Riley Greene homered for the Tigers, who beat Chicago 1-0 on opening day Thursday. Parker Meadows reached three times from the leadoff spot and robbed Martín Maldonado of a home run with a leaping grab in center.
Canha was the automatic runner on second in the 10th when Kelly hit a grounder back up the middle against Deivi García (0-1), putting Detroit ahead to stay. Kelly also drove in Canha with a two-out single in the seventh, tying it at 6.
Shelby Miller (1-0) pitched two perfect innings for the win.
“We want to play for bigger things. We want to go to the playoffs and we want to go win,” Kelly said. “Obviously, to get there, you've got to win ... these close games, and I think that's what we're going to go out and show.”
Robert hit a pair of two-run homers and Braden Shewmake also connected for Chicago, which managed just three singles in the opener. Michael Soroka pitched five innings of four-run ball in his White Sox debut.
Robert hit a 449-foot shot to left on the 10th pitch of his at-bat against Kenta Maeda in the first. He came up again in the third and drove Maeda's eighth pitch deep to left-center, lifting the White Sox to a 5-3 lead.
The All-Star center fielder went 3 for 4 with a walk in his sixth career multihomer game.
“It’s never easy to hit a homer,” Robert said through a translator. “But when I’m locked in on the strike zone, it’s easier.”
Maeda was tagged for six runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings in his first start for Detroit. The Japanese right-hander agreed to a $24 million, two-year contract as a free agent.
“Mechanics seemed a little off,” Maeda said through a translator. “I just got to do better next time.”
Detroit trailed 6-3 before Canha connected with two outs in the fifth. Greene led off the seventh with a drive to center against Dominic Leone, setting the stage for Kelly's tying hit.
Chicago loaded the bases in the bottom half on three walks, but Will Vest got Eloy Jiménez to bounce into a double play. First baseman Spencer Torkelson made a nice scoop on third baseman Zach McKinstry's throw, ending the inning.
“I was anticipating a bad throw, because that's what you always have to do,” Torkelson said, “and then just let the work and the natural instinct take over.”
BIG SWING
Shewmake went deep on the first pitch he saw in the second inning in his Chicago debut. He became the first White Sox player to hit a home run for his first major league hit since Zack Collins at Texas on June 21, 2019.
“I’m not a home run hitter,” Shewmake said. "That wasn’t really my intent there but put a good swing on a pitch you can handle and good things tend to happen.”
Shewmake and Soroka were acquired in a November trade that sent reliever Aaron Bummer to Atlanta.
UP NEXT
Right-handers Jack Flaherty and Erick Fedde start the series finale on Sunday. The 28-year-old Flaherty is making his Detroit debut after signing a $14 million, one-year contract. The 31-year-old Fedde finalized a $15 million, two-year contract with Chicago in December after pitching in South Korea last season.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
