DETROIT (AP) - JaCoby Jones hit an inside-the-park home run in the seventh inning and the Detroit Tigers breezed to their fourth straight victory, 5-1 over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.
Niko Goodrum homered and had four hits for the Tigers, who handed Chicago its fifth loss in six games. Detroit is 4-0 since returning from a four-day layoff created by a postponed series against St. Louis, which had a coronavirus outbreak.
“Everyone’s getting better, at least on one thing each day,” Goodrum said. “I used those four days to just reflect on what I was doing well and what I can improve on.”
It wasn’t all good news for Detroit, though. First baseman C.J. Cron exited with a left knee injury in the fourth.
White Sox slugger Jose Abreu came up limping after grounding out in the eighth and left the game as well.
“He ended up hitting the bag a little stiffly,” manager Rick Renteria said. “So it ended up running a stinging sensation from his ankle all the way through his hip. But I think it’s given way. I think he should be fine, but we’ll know more tomorrow.”
The Tigers improved to 9-5 on the year after losing 114 games in 2019.
Detroit was up 3-1 in the seventh when center fielder Adam Engel went for a lunging catch on a sinking liner by Jones. Engel missed, and it’s a long way out to the wall in center field at Comerica Park. Jones circled the bases and scored standing up for a two-run homer, his fifth of the season.
Michael Fulmer pitched three scoreless innings for Detroit, and Daniel Norris (1-1) worked two.
Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire was asked if those two might work in tandem on a consistent basis, but he wouldn’t commit to it.
“We had a lot going on today. We’re still trying to get everything straightened out,” Gardenhire said. “We said that was going to be the tandem and we like it. We’ll just see if we stay with it.”
Gregory Soto went 1 1/3 hitless innings in relief for the Tigers.
Chicago starter Dallas Keuchel (2-2) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.
Detroit’s Jeimer Candelario slapped a double down the right-field line to bring home the first run in the fourth. Goodrum hit a solo shot in the sixth, and Victor Reyes added a run-scoring single in the seventh.
Chicago’s only run came in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Engel.
Cron was struck by Danny Mendick’s hard-hit grounder in the fourth and stayed down for a while. He eventually walked off with some assistance. Norris made an acrobatic play, hustling over to retrieve the ball and retiring Mendick with a diving tag while Cron lay on the ground in pain.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: SS Leury Garcia appeared to be having his left hand checked after sliding into first in the seventh, but he remained in the game.
Tigers: Detroit put RHP Buck Farmer on the 10-day injured list with a left groin strain. The Tigers recalled RHP Beau Burrows. The initial timetable on Farmer is 10-14 days.
UP NEXT
LHP Tyler Alexander (1-0) starts for Detroit on Tuesday night against LHP Gio Gonzalez (0-1). Alexander makes his first start of the season. He struck out the first nine hitters he faced in an Aug. 2 relief appearance against Cincinnati.
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