Tigers 5, White Sox 3 (11): Justin Upton stays hot with 3-run HR in extras

Justin Upton dropped a go-ahead homer into the seats in the 11th to back Justin Verlander’s dominant start. His home run and Miguel Cabrera’s two shots were the only runs scored of the day, and it handed the Tigers a 5-3 victory over the White Sox despite another shaky outing from Francisco Rodriguez.

There was a solid pitcher’s duel going on at U.S. Cellular Field on Monday. Verlander was blowing hitters away, and the Tigers could get nothing going against Chris Sale — except Miguel Cabrera. He smoked two solo home runs to right and then left, accounting for both of the runs Detroit would get in the game through eight frames.

Verlander has been dominant lately, and Monday was no different. There weren’t many hard-hit balls and he struck out the side in the second. The only extra-base hit the White Sox could muster came on a leadoff double in the third that scored.

Chicago would come up with nothing more than a few singles until the seventh inning, when Verlander’s former teammate Alex Avila tagged him for a solo home run. That run tied the game 2-2, and it would be what sent the game into extras. But in the 11th inning with two aboard, Justin Upton smoked a go-ahead homer that would secure the Tigers’ win.

ROARS:

Miguel Cabrera: Two dingers = one roar. He also had two non-homer hits for a four-hit day.

Justin Verlander: Allowed two runs through seven innings and he struck out 11 batters.

Justin Upton: In a 1-2 count, Upton delivered with a three-run homer in the 11th.

HISSES:

Tigers offense: Aside from Cabrera’s big day, Detroit had just two hits — J.D. Martinez and James McCann — off of Sale.

STATS AND INFO:

• Miguel Cabrera’s homer in the first marked his 300th homer as a Tiger and his 30th of the season. He’s just the fourth player in franchise history with at least 300 homers. The other three are Al Kaline, Norm Cash, and Hank Greenberg. Also, he’s the third active player to hit 300 dingers with the same team (David Ortiz: 476 HR, BOS; Ryan Howard: 377 HR, PHI)
• Justin Verlander struck out his 200th batter of the season in the second inning. It’s the first time he’s done so since 2013 for the sixth of his career.
• Verlander finished with 11 strikeouts on Labor Day, marking the 35th time in his career where he’s put up 10-or-more strikeouts in a game. It’s the sixth time this season, his last coming on July 30 against the Astros.
• Cabrera homered again in the third inning, giving him 38 multi-homer games for his career, and his fifth this year. His last was on July 31 against the Astros, and he now has 439 homers in his career, which ties Adrian Beltre and Paul Konerko for 42nd in MLB history.
• Justin Upton has hit eight home runs in his last 14 games.

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