Kyle Lobstein is content to let batters make contact — weak contact.

Lobstein allowed five hits in 7 2-3 innings, Miguel Cabrera scored twice and drove in a run and the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 4-1 Thursday to salvage the finale of a three-game series.

"He was outstanding," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "He located, mixed speeds, threw his cutter in on right-handed batters and changeup away from right-handed batters. He had as good an outing as I've seen from him. The last month of 2014 and the first month this season he's pitched pretty well for us."

Lobstein (3-2) threw 100 pitches and lasted at least seven innings for the third straight start. The run he allowed was unearned, leaving him with a 3.00 ERA.

Lobstein's only jam came in the fourth inning, when Chicago tied the score and loaded the bases with no outs. Alexei Ramirez grounded sharply to third baseman Nick Castellanos, who stepped on the bag and threw home in time for Alex Avila to tag Jose Abreu.

"That obviously can change the course of the game right there," Lobstein said. "The momentum swings back to our side."

Said Ausmus: "The only thing that would have been better would be a triple play."

Victor Martinez and Nick Castellanos each drove in a run and Detroit bounced back after blowing a 6-3 eighth-inning lead on Wednesday. Joakim Soria struck out all four batters he faced for his 11th save.

"Had more strikeouts than I did," said Lobstein, who fanned three.

Avisail Garcia had an RBI single in the fourth inning for the White Sox.

Chicago starter Jose Quintana (1-3) allowed two runs and four hits in five innings with a season-high eight strikeouts.

"It was a short one today for him," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "They did a good job of kind of working him. He had a high pitch count there just getting through the fifth. It's a tough lineup to go through."