The way things were going Monday night, it looked as though even Binti the gorilla couldn’t save the White Sox.
Friday in Milwaukee, they lost a double-header to a Brewers team that came in with a nine-game losing streak. Monday in Tiger Stadium, they trailed by two in the ninth and were three outs away from snapping Detroit’s seven-game losing streak.
But Ozzie Guillen turned on the power in the Sox ninth, blasting a three-run home run off Jose Lima to start an avalanche of runs that resulted in a 12-7 victory. The Sox scored seven in the inning, including an RBI double by Robin Ventura and Danny Tartabull’s three-run homer, both with two out.
“We didn’t play good baseball today,” Guillen said. “But we never gave up.”
Ray Durham had four of the Sox’s 12 hits to raise his August average to .424. Reliever Bill Simas pitched two scoreless innings to earn his second win, and rookie Greg Norton had two singles in his first two big-league at-bats, both in the ninth.
The Sox are 8-0 against Detroit this year and have outscored the Tigers 53-20 in four games at Tiger Stadium.
Andujar Cedeno’s two-run homer off James Baldwin gave the Tigers an early 3-0 lead before Detroit starter Omar Olivares fell apart in the Sox sixth, issuing four walks in a five-run inning.
Curtis Pride’s three-run home run off Baldwin in the Tigers’ four-run sixth gave Detroit a 7-5 lead before Detroit’s bullpen imploded again.
