Corey Julks went the other way with an inside-out approach and sliced a single just past diving first baseman Spencer Torkelson. Dominic Fletcher scored easily on the hit.
Luis Robert Jr. followed with a sharp single to left, scoring another run. in the third inning for the Chicago White Sox against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Later in the inning, Andrew Vaughn singled to center and Julks scored just ahead of the throw.
The Sox got to Cy Young Award candidate Tarik Skubal in the inning, cutting a five-run deficit to two.
But the Tigers responded with four runs in the fourth and added four more in the ninth to turn a close game into a 13-4 blowout in front of 23,570.
It was the 99th loss of the season for the Sox, who have dropped the first two of the wrap-around four-game series.
“I thought the guys did a good job of putting good at-bats together all night,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “I thought that was a good (third) inning for us, kind of getting back into the game. Unfortunately we just couldn’t hold them down.
“We weren’t able to get ahead of guys and they were doing a good job of just battling and making us work. And they got some big walks and some big hits and that was kind of the game.”
At 31-99, the Sox are 68 games under .500 for the first time in franchise history.
“I don’t think we try to focus on that,” Julks said of nearing 100 losses. “We just go day by day.”
It was a tough night for starter Ky Bush, who allowed five runs on eight hits with one strikeout and one walk in three innings.
“Not ideal is how you can sum it up,” Bush said. “I try to take everything from each start. That was the fourth one so, I think just keep building on the positives and learn from the negatives and go on with it.”
Four of those runs came in the third, beginning with a solo home run by Matt Vierling, as the Tigers built a 5-0 lead.
“He got in trouble a few times,” Sizemore said. “I thought they had good swings. He wasn’t getting ahead of guys. When you don’t have good command and you’re not getting ahead, you’ve got to come in there with strikes, and they’re ready for it. When you get behind, it makes it tough. They just put good swings on it.”
The Tigers continued to produce offensively against the Sox bullpen. Reliever Touki Toussaint surrendered four runs on two hits with three walks in two-thirds of an inning. All that damage came in the fourth as the lead ballooned to 9-3.
Jake Rogers had a two-run single in the inning. The catcher had three hits, three RBIs and scored twice.
Colt Keith and Zach McKinstry hit two-run home runs against John Brebbia in the ninth to wrap up the Tigers’ 14-hit night.
Skubal bounced back after the three-run third, finishing with eight strikeouts while allowing the three runs in five innings.
“I gave up eight hits, seven singles,” Skubal said. “I think one of them was hit hard. I think Vaughn’s was hit hard. Everything else was kind of through holes, found holes. That’s the game of baseball.”
Julks had three singles and an RBI. Robert, Vaughn, Lenyn Sosa and Fletcher each had two hits, with Vaughn driving in two runs. The Sox collected 12 hits but could not keep the Tigers in check.
“They’ve been fighting,” Sizemore said. “They’ve been putting together good at-bats, playing good defense. The effort is there. It’s just some days we don’t execute. Sometimes we just get beat.
“Sometimes they have a better outing, whether it’s pitching or offense. It’s hard to win in this league. I don’t have to worry about keeping them engaged or all those things. They’re doing a great job of that. Tonight just wasn’t our night.”
