Jose Contreras struck out eight Friday afternoon, but a few well-placed hits neutralized his effectiveness.
Meanwhile, Justin Verlander’s ability to quell White Sox’s rallies proved even more effective than the fact his 124th pitch was clocked at 100 m.p.h.
The Sox acknowledged that their lack of clutch hitting was their downfall in a 5-1 loss to the Tigers in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
The Sox stranded runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth innings — which loomed even larger when Verlander retired 15 of the next 16 batters before A.J. Pierzynski led off the ninth with the first of three consecutive singles.
But once again, Verlander (11-5) eluded trouble, inducing Gordon Beckham to hit a grounder back to the mound to start a double play and getting Dewayne Wise to ground to shortstop to finish a 127-pitch, six-hit complete game.
“If I get a hit in the second, the whole game is different,” said Beckham, who grounded into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded to halt a rally. “It was one of those days. If we get a hit there or one other spot, we’re in the game or possibly win.”
At least Beckham, the Sox’s No. 9 hitter, produced their lone run with a game-tying sacrifice fly in the fourth. Alexei Ramirez, Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome and Paul Konerko — the Sox’s 2-5 hitters — went a combined 0-for-14.
In the third, Wise led off with a double but was stranded when Ramirez popped to short, Thome struck out after Dye had walked and Konerko grounded into a force play.
In the fourth, Beckham’s sacrifice fly also moved Carlos Quentin to third, but Quentin was stranded when Wise grounded back to Verlander.
“We had a great opportunity to score a couple of times, [but] we didn’t,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “[Verlander] threw the ball very well.”
