Troy Melton, 3 relievers stymie White Sox as Tigers take series

Tony Paul, The Detroit News on Aug 13, 2025

Published in Baseball

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CHICAGO — In this, the windiest of cities, work was a breeze for Troy Melton.

Melton, a rookie right-hander, retired the first 12 batters he faced and then struck out the side after allowing his first and only hit, a leadoff double in the fourth inning, to help lift the Tigers past the White Sox, 1-0, on Wednesday afternoon in the series finale at Rate Field.

Sawyer Gipson-Long, just off the injured list, Kyle Finnegan and Will Vest finished things off for the Tigers, who won a second consecutive series.

The Tigers became the third major league team to reach 70 wins, after the Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays.

The Tigers' offense, still not clicking, did just enough, scoring the lone run on Wenceel Perez's sacrifice fly off White Sox reliever Martin Perez, also just off the IL, in the sixth inning. The Tigers could've scored more in the inning, but center fielder Luis Robert Jr. made a fine running catch. Javier Báez struck out and Jahmai Jones grounded into a fielder's choice to limit the damage to just one run, despite loading the bases with nobody out.

Carpenter led off the inning with his second hit, a single off Martin Perez (1-2) — his 10th hit off lefties in his 43rd at-bat this season. Spencer Torkelson doubled and Riley Greene walked, before Wenceel Perez broke the scoreless tie.

The Tigers had a runner on in each of the first five innings off White Sox starter Shane Smith, with two singles and three walks, but none of those runners got past first base.

Smith, another rookie right-hander, nearly matched Melton (3-1), frame for frame, allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out five in five innings.

Melton needed just 41 pitches to get through the first four innings, perfectly; of those 41 pitches, 31 were strikes.

Robert then led off the fifth with a double to right-center, but Robert never moved from there, as Melton struck out Andrew Benintendi (slider), Miguel Vargas (fastball) and Edgar Quero (slider) on 12 pitches. Making his first start since July after working out of the bullpen his last two outings, Melton got the hook after five innings (and just 56 pitches), allowing just the one hit while striking out six.

Melton worked almost exclusively ahead in the count, with first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 16 batters he faced; he never went to a three-ball count in this, his third major league start, and second in which he allowed no runs.

Meanwhile, Gipson-Long, out for more than a month with a neck injury, picked right up where Melton left off. Gipson-Long went two innings, facing the minimum six batters. He allowed a single in his first inning of work, but that runner was quickly erased on a double play nicely started by second baseman Gleyber Torres. He struck out two.

Finnegan worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth inning, then Vest worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 18th save, delighting a significant percentage of the 13,647 fans in the stands. Tigers pitchers allowed just two hits.

It was the Tigers' third 1-0 win in 2025 (one against Cleveland, one against Kansas City), and just their second 1-0 win against the White Sox at Rate Field in the last seven seasons (March 2024).

The Tigers' lead in the American League Central grew, temporarily, to six games over the Cleveland Guardians, who were set to play the Miami Marlins later Wednesday.

The Tigers next head to Minnesota, for a four-game series with the Twins, starting Thursday night.