Martinez hit the first Major League pitch he had seen since June 16, a Sale fastball, into the shrubs in left-center field, an estimated 434-foot drive, according to Statcast™. It was his second career pinch-hit home run, but his third career homer in 32 plate appearances against Sale (14-5), who fell to 3-4 lifetime at Comerica Park, despite a season-high 10 strikeouts over eight innings.
Sale trailed for much of the game in his duel opposite Michael Fulmer, but Justin Morneau's second homer this season off the Tigers rookie tied the game at 1 in the seventh. Fulmer tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts before Shane Greene (2-2) thwarted a go-ahead opportunity for the White Sox in the seventh inning.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Castellanos opens the scoring: Nick Castellanos was trying to hit a ball to the right side to advance Miguel Cabrera from second base with one out in the fourth when he got enough of a Sale fastball to drop a soft line drive inside the right-field line for an RBI double.
Morneau ties it up: Morneau took Fulmer deep with two outs in the seventh inning for a solo home run to tie the game. The blast ended a string of seven consecutive batters retired by Fulmer. It was Morneau's third homer of the season and second off Fulmer.
Diving stop by Iglesias: Moments before Martinez broke the tie, Jose Iglesias sent the game into the bottom of the eighth with a highlight stop, ranging up the middle and diving to smother Tim Anderson's ground ball before throwing him out at first base.
Abreu makes most of second chance: First baseman Jose Abreu helped Sale and the White Sox escape further damage in the fourth inning. He dropped a popup from Mike Aviles in foul territory and was charged an error. On the next pitch, he got another opportunity, on a nearly identical play. This time he made the catch, turned and gunned out Victor Martinez trying to tag up and score.
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Fulmer lowered his ERA for the season to 2.42, the second-lowest by a Tigers pitcher through his first 17 career starts since 1920.
REPLAY REVIEW
After Fulmer's first pitch to Avisail Garcia hit the knob of his bat and his hand with two outs in the seventh inning, White Sox manager Robin Ventura challenged the ruling, arguing that the pitch hit Garcia's hand first. After a review, umpires couldn't determine with certainty, and the call stood. Seconds later, it became irrelevant, as Fulmer's next pitch hit Garcia without question.
WHAT'S NEXT
White Sox: Jose Quintana (8-8, 2.89) takes to the mound for the series finale at Comerica Park at 12:10 p.m. CT. He is making his first start of the month after a successful July. He went 3-0 with a 1.95 ERA last month. He has gone six innings or deeper in six straight starts and in eight of his last nine.
Tigers: Jordan Zimmermann (9-4, 3.95) returns from the disabled list to start in the series finale, making his first outing since June 30. J.D. Martinez is expected to return to the Tigers' lineup in right field for the first time since mid-June. Game time is 1:10 p.m. ET.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.
Kyle Beery is a reporter for MLB.com based in Detroit. He covered the White Sox on Wednesday.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Tigers win 8th straight on J.D.'s pinch-hit HR
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