DETROIT (AP) - Ian Krol was concerned about a possible walk with the bases loaded, so he grooved a pitch to Marcus Semien.
“As it turned out, walking him would have been a much better move,” Krol said.
Semien’s seventh-inning grand slam lifted the Chicago White Sox over the Detroit Tigers 6-4 Wednesday night. Detroit starter Drew Smyly allowed two runs in six innings, but Evan Reed gave up two singles and a walk, and Krol allowed the home run to Semien.
Andre Rienzo (1-0) gave up four runs in the fourth inning, but otherwise kept the Tigers quiet in his first start this season. He allowed five hits and two walks in 6 1-3 innings, striking out three.
Matt Lindstrom pitched the ninth for his third save, but it wasn’t easy. He allowed a single, a walk and two deep flyouts before retiring Alex Avila on a line drive to first with runners on second and third.
Austin Jackson homered for Detroit.
Paul Konerko had three hits for the White Sox, including an eighth-inning double that moved him past Frank Thomas atop the team’s career total bases list.
“Any time you hear ’franchise lead’ or something like that, that’s cool,” Konerko said. “It shows I got out there and played. You’ve got to do well, but more than anything, you have to be out on the field to do it, so I’ve always took pride in that.”
With the Tigers ahead 4-2 in the seventh, Reed (0-1) allowed a leadoff single to Konerko. Alejandro De Aza singled one out later, then Reed walked Tyler Flowers and was pulled. Krol retired Jordan Danks on a popup, but Semien followed with a drive to left that cleared the bases.
“I threw a 3-1 fastball up in the zone, which is pretty much the exact pitch guys want to see on 3-1,” Krol said. “I thought about throwing a changeup, but I didn’t want to walk him.”
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said he left Krol, a left-hander, in the game because he didn’t want left-handed slugger Adam Dunn to pinch-hit if Detroit brought in a righty.
Abreu opened the scoring in the first with a two-run shot, reaching the bushes beyond the wall in center field at Comerica Park for the second time this series. Smyly was impressive after that; he would end up yielding six hits and a walk with seven strikeouts.
Rienzo gave up the lead in the fourth, allowing a two-run single to J.D. Martinez and Jackson’s two-run homer to left-center. But the Tigers had only one more runner against Rienzo after the homer. The 25-year-old right-hander from Brazil had pitched only one inning this season, but he got the start Wednesday with Chicago starters Chris Sale and Felipe Paulino both injured.
With one on in the ninth, Martinez came within a few feet of tying the game, but his drive off Lindstrom was caught in front of the wall in center near the 420-foot marker. After a walk to Jackson, both runners moved up on Nick Castellanos’ flyout to deep right. Avila then swung at a 3-0 pitch, and his liner was caught by Abreu, who was guarding the line at first.
“He had the green light to swing, because he hit a ball 400 feet off Lindstrom the other night and he’s been swinging the bat really well in the last few days,” Ausmus said. “We know he can hit one out, and he hit that hard. It was just right at someone.”
NOTES: Abreu’s homer was his seventh this year. … Danks made a diving catch in center field in the second to retire Jackson. … The Tigers will play a split doubleheader against Cleveland on July 19 to make up for an April 15 postponement in Detroit. … Tigers RHP Max Scherzer (1-1) faces Chicago LHP Jose Quintana (1-0) in Thursday’s series finale.
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