CHICAGO — Spencer Torkelson didn’t move far from home plate as he watched the ball sail.
With one out and the game tied at 1-1 in the top of the ninth, Torkelson crushed a four-seamer over the heart of the plate from White Sox reliever Brandon Eisert. The only problem? He pulled it down the left-field line. It was far from a no-doubt homer, since it could easily hook in front the left-field foul pole and keep the game knotted up.
Torkelson hunched over and leaned to his right while the ball flew, seemingly willing it to stay fair. After a few seconds of tension, it doinked off the pole, giving Torkelson his 26th home run and giving the Tigers the lead.
The skies above Rate Field opened and dropped a storm over the ballpark a few moments later, but once play resumed after a 63-minute delay, Torkelson’s blast was enough to lead Detroit to a 2-1 victory over Chicago on Monday.
Outside of that go-ahead homer and three straight hits to start the scoring in the second, the Tigers’ bats were mostly quiet. They loaded the bases in the fourth but couldn’t bring in an insurance run. Between the last out of the fourth inning and Torkelson’s home run, they had just one baserunner.
But Chris Paddack gave Detroit 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball, and Tyler Holton, Kyle Finnegan and Will Vest held the Sox off the board to seal the victory.
