Davis Martin threw a changeup and then a slider and a fastball.
The Chicago White Sox starter went to curveball and back to fastball.
Detroit Tigers third baseman Jace Jung fouled them all off as the count remained 2-2.
Finally, on the 10th pitch of the at-bat, Martin got Jung to swing-and-miss on a changeup for the final out of the fifth inning.
Jung got the best of the Sox in the seventh with a go-ahead RBI single against reliever Jared Shuster. Spencer Torkelson followed with a three-run home run against Justin Anderson during the five-run inning as the Tigers beat the Sox 6-3 in front of 10,975 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“Tough inning,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “(Shuster) did great for us in the sixth and he went back out there in the seventh.
“These guys, they’re fighters, man. They’re pesky hitters, they put the ball in play. They were giving us tough at-bats the whole series. It was just a tough outing. Shu’s been great for us. Sometimes it happens.”
The Sox suffered their 49th loss while leading as they were swept in the four-game series.
At 31-101, the Sox are 70 games under .500 for the first time in franchise history. The 101 losses are tied for the third-most in franchise history along with the 1948 and 2023 teams.
It’s also the 20th time they’ve been swept this season.
Martin pitched well in the loss, allowing one run on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk in five innings.
“It was damage control when we needed to be but for the most part, we were in the zone, attacking with five pitches,” Martin said. “Today was really good with the curveball, mixing that in there, giving the changeup a breather.
“Just trying to figure out when guys are sitting on the changeup and when to throw stuff to get them off of it. It was a really good day. We mixed really well and (catcher) Korey (Lee) did a really good job back there.”
He left with the Sox leading 2-1.
“He threw great, a great performance from him,” Sizemore said. “He’s been doing that for us a lot lately. A great outing, kept us in the game, kept them in check, got out of a tough inning, just thought he threw really well with everything. He got ahead, throwing strikes, coming at guys. Just pitched a great game.”
Parker Meadows led off the seventh with a home run against Shuster. Matt Vierling walked, advanced to third on a single by Colt Keith and scored on Jung’s go-ahead single to left.
Anderson replaced Shuster and Torkelson homered to give the Tigers a 6-2 lead.
“We haven’t had a lot of things go our way and they put together a good inning,” Sizemore said.
Martin added, “I know the media wants to point at our bullpen and point at the seventh, eighth inning struggles, but our bullpen has saved me multiple times already in my five outings. They’re there to pick us up, they’re trying their best and they’re trying to win games, just like I am. We just need to put it all together.”
Andrew Benintendi homered in the eighth, but that turned out to be the final hit for the Sox as they were swept in a four-game series by the Tigers for the first time since Aug. 18-21, 1988, at Tiger Stadium and the first time in Chicago since June 20-22, 1980, at Comiskey Park.
“We got on the board early, guys were putting together some good at-bats,” Sizemore said. “There were some hard-hit balls right at guys. I thought we looked good offensively overall on the day. They got more hits (13-6). They got the big hits when they needed it, got that big homer and that was kind of the game.”
