Justin Morneau (44) of the Chicago White Sox is tagged out in a rundown in the fourth inning by Nick Castellanos (9) of the Detroit Tigers during a game at Comerica Park on August 4, 2016 in Detroit. The setback also snapped the Twins’ four-game winning streak.
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He Said It: “It was one of those surreal moments”.
Sale said he approached Martinez the same way he would had he been playing every day. He posted a 6.43 ERA in six starts, and went on the disabled list at the end of the month with a neck strain.
“I wasn’t expecting to get that kind of ovation that they gave me when I was walking in”, he said. “I guess the only way it would have been more flawless is if it was the bottom of the ninth”. “If I could thank the fans individually, I would thank them. That was really cool”. “Jose with a nice one, and even Justin, that’s what you want to see him do, put it in play and put it somewhere where if it’s not a hit, you get the guy to third base, and we just didn’t get it in”.
“I had a few mechanical issues that we worked out”, he said.
“That was special”, Kinsler said of Martinez hitting the go-ahead home run. The Sox’s six runs were the most they’ve scored while Quintana was still in the game this season.
As for not facing major league pitching in seven weeks, Martinez said: “Your adrenaline just takes over”. As always, allow me to remind you that if we disagree about something, one of us is either stupid or biased – maybe both. The White Sox are just 4-9 in their last 13 games versus the Tigers and are an abysmal 15-40 in their last 55 games in Detroit. He was supposed to have the entire night off, actually, but manager Brad Ausmus chose to keep him available off the bench. “I just tried to think the game was close, like 0-0, and try to throw the ball well and get outs”.
But Ausmus saw a good opportunity to bring Martinez in for catcher James McCann to lead off the bottom of the eighth. “We felt coming into spring training like this was a team that could compete for a championship”, manager Brad Ausmus said.
Nick Castellanos drove in the other Tigers run with a fourth-inning double.
How’s that for a happy return for J.D.
“He was trying to work without discomfort and you can always tell when a player’s doing that, whether he’s on the mound or at the plate, and that always makes things more hard”.
Detroit is now 10 games above.500 on the season for the first time since the 2014 regular season.
Zimmermann (9-5) didn’t get out of the second inning and was tagged with the loss after allowing six runs on 53 pitches.
Abreu, who totaled 66 home runs in his first two major-league seasons, last homered June 23 against the Red Sox in Boston. He walked one and struck out four.
Norris finished last season as the top dog among the three pitchers they had acquired at the trading deadline, well ahead of Matt Boyd and Fulmer. His solo shot to center field off Zimmermann sparked the Sox’s second-inning run.
RHP Francisco Rodriguez escaped a bases-loaded jam to notch his 30th save in his 900th career appearance. He retired White Sox C Dioner Navarro on a groundout to survive the shaky outing, his first since July 26. His leg buckled under him, and Adam Eaton had to field the ball in right-center while Tilson was lying on the field.
BLUE JAYS 2, ASTROS 1: Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion go deep for Toronto.
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Chicago trailed 4-2 entering the ninth but A.J. Ramos gave up a leadoff double to Miguel Montero, a single to Javier Baez and walked Szczur on five pitches to load the bases.
