Miguel Vargas smacked a game-ending two-run home run against Drew Anderson in the 10th inning to propel the host Chicago White Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday.
Chicago, which lost slugging first baseman Munetaka Murakami to hamstring tightness in the third inning, has won three straight and four of five. The Tigers have lost three in a row and 11 of 13.
Stymied by Tigers starter Troy Melton for much of the night, the White Sox forced extra innings with aggressive baserunning in the ninth.
With men on the corners and one out, Rikuu Nishida bunted in front of the mound. Pitcher Kyle Finnegan briefly looked at Andrew Benintendi a third of the way down the third base line, then threw for the out at first. Benintendi charged toward the plate and first baseman Spencer Torkelson’s throw home was well up the line, which allowed Benintendi to score on the error.
Anderson (2-2) yielded the fourth walk-off home run against the Tigers this season as Vargas crushed a two-out changeup that hung over the heart of the plate. Winner Bryan Hudson (3-1) allowed an unearned run in the 10th on a Zack Short sacrifice fly.
Riley Greene singled twice for the Tigers, who were outhit 10-4.
Murakami went 0-for-2 with a strikeout before leaving the game in the third inning with right hamstring tightness. He sustained the injury while racing to first base to avoid a 4-6-3 double play. Sox manager Will Venable said after the game that Murakami is expected to miss “a couple weeks.”
Murakami entered the weekend with 20 home runs, tied for tops in the American League.
Dillon Dingler delivered his 11th home run of the season with two out in the third, connecting for a two-run blast against White Sox right-hander Erick Fedde. The ball just cleared the wall and the leaping attempt by left fielder Sam Antonacci.
Fedde scattered two runs and four hits in four innings. He walked three and struck out three while surrendering a home run for the sixth straight outing.
Melton spaced one run and six hits in seven innings with one walk and one strikeout. He threw 57 of his 89 pitches for strikes.
Tristan Peters, Antonacci and Vargas collected two hits apiece for the White Sox, who had four doubles. Vargas produced the team’s first run with an RBI double in the third.
After leaving the bases loaded in the fourth, Detroit managed just two baserunners until Matt Vierling became the automatic runner on second to open the 10th.
