Tigers 5, White Sox 4: Detroit comes back against old friend Bruce Rondon

The Detroit Tigers took advantage of a familiar face on Friday, scoring three runs against former teammate Bruce Rondon to cap off a 5-4 comeback win over the Chicago White Sox. Rondon coughed up three runs in the bottom of the eighth, spoiling a game that Chicago controlled for most of the evening.

The White Sox jumped on Tigers starter Mike Fiers early. Second baseman Yoan Moncada jumped on Fiers’ first pitch of the game and laced a double into right field. Six pitches later, Jose Abreu scored Moncada with a double of his own. Just two pitches after that, Tim Anderson hit a two-out single to score Abreu and put the Sox up 2-0. This was just nine pitches into the game.

Thankfully, Fiers settled down after that. He gave up another run in the fourth and a solo home run to Anderson in the fifth, but was able to get through 5 ²⁄₃ innings while stranding his usual plethora of baserunners. Meanwhile, the Tigers offense had scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to stay within striking distance. Leonys Martin led off the inning with a single, and new No. 2 hitter Nicholas Castellanos doubled Martin over to third. A wild pitch and a groundout scored the two baserunners, bringing the Tigers within one at the time.

After 2 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings from the bullpen — I’m not sure what all happened here, I went to get ice cream — the Tigers entered the bottom of the eighth still down 4-2. Rondon entered the game after seven strong innings from starter Reynaldo Lopez, and promptly surrendered a double to Jose Iglesias. JaCoby Jones struck out, but Martin scored Iglesias with a single to right. Castellanos followed with his second double of the game, a liner to left that scored Martin from first base. White Sox manager Rick Renteria pulled Rondon after this, but a tough pop-up from Jeimer Candelario dropped in to plate Castellanos and give the Tigers a 5-4 lead. Shane Greene worked a (mostly) stress-free ninth for his 12th save.

Tweet of the game