Jeff Samardzija pitched seven effective innings, and the Chicago White Sox snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.
Back at home after a strange road trip, the White Sox chased Shane Greene in the third inning of their first win in nine days. Two of their three games in Baltimore were postponed due to rioting near Camden Yards, and they were swept in a four-game series at Minnesota.
Samardzija (2-2) allowed a run in each of the first two innings, and then pitched four-hit ball for the rest of his outing. The right-hander struck out seven and walked one in his first game since he took the loss for a rocky five innings in front of an empty ballpark in an 8-2 loss to the Orioles last Wednesday.
Alex Avila homered for Detroit, and Ian Kinsler had an RBI single. Greene (3-2) was charged with five runs and five hits in 2 2-3 innings.
Avila's two-out drive in the second went off the glove of a leaping Melky Cabrera at the wall in left, giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead. But Chicago went ahead to stay with four runs in the third.
With one out and a runner on second, Greene issued three consecutive walks to force home a run. Avisail Garcia had a run-scoring fielder's choice, and Conor Gillaspie drove Greene's last pitch of the night into the gap in right-center for a two-run triple.
Detroit had runners on the corners for Miguel Cabrera in the fifth, but Samardzija fanned the feared slugger to end the inning. He wiggled out of another jam in the seventh, shaking off a comebacker off his right arm in time to throw out Kinsler for the final out.
Chicago Baseball
Zach Duke pitched the eighth and David Robertson finished for his fourth save in four chances. It was Robertson's first save opportunity since he closed out Chicago's previous victory, a 5-3 win against Kansas City on April 26.
Greene walked four and struck out one. The right-hander has pitched just 11 innings over his last three starts.
