Tigers 11, White Sox 8: Lee Ties It, Greene Buries It, Chicago Falls Out

An error in the first, a flex in the eighth, and first place gone

September 18, 2026 - Chicago - Hao-Yu Lee bobbled Brenton Doyle's ground ball in the first at Rate Field. Munetaka Murakami scored. The inning did not stop. Colson Montgomery doubled in three. Miguel Vargas doubled in another. Six unearned runs sat on Andrew Sears in his third career start, and the Chicago White Sox led 6-1.

Seven innings later Lee hit a two-run homer to right, his 10th, and the game was 8-8. The MLB recap said he turned to the dugout and flexed, pointed toward the bullpen, and met Eduardo Valencia with a chest bump at the plate. "Everything just came out," Lee said through translator Peter Lin, per that recap. "I just blacked out."

The Detroit Tigers won 11-8. Chicago fell out of first in the American League Central.

Partly cloudy. 71 degrees. Wind 9 mph in from left. First pitch 6:40 p.m. The Tigers had 16 hits. The White Sox had seven. Detroit scored 11. That is the whole argument.

Six unearned, then a climb that took all night

Colt Keith had doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the top of the first. 1-0. Then Lee's error, Montgomery's double, Vargas's double, 1-6. Sears lasted two-thirds of an inning. One hit. Six runs, none earned. Three walks. Beau Brieske inherited the mess and got through 2 1/3 with two runs, both on Vargas's 32nd homer in the third, Doyle scoring. 2-8.

Kevin McGonigle had singled Valencia home in the top of the third. 2-6, then 2-8 after Vargas. The fifth was the first real dent. McGonigle tripled to center, his fifth. Max Clark, Valencia, and Lee scored. 5-8. The ESPN recap said Tristan Peters left after crashing into the wall on that ball, and that the triple chased rookie starter David Sandlin. Sandlin lasted four innings. Seven hits. Five runs.

Lee doubled Clark home in the sixth off Chris Murphy. 6-8. Two runs. One inning. The eighth still had to arrive.

Sean Newcomb (2-5) came in and did not keep it. Valencia was on. Lee's homer tied it. McGonigle was on. Dillon Dingler singled him home. 9-8. Bryan Hudson inherited Dingler and watched Riley Greene hit his 21st to right-center. 11-8. Greene, per the MLB recap: "It was awesome. I think some fans said some things to him and kind of fired him up, so him bringing that energy and showing it, it's awesome."

Lee finished 4-for-5 with the homer, a double, two runs, and three RBI. McGonigle went 2-for-5 with the triple, a walk, and four RBI. Greene had the two-run shot. Valencia reached four times and scored three. That is 16 hits turned into a comeback that started 6-1 the wrong way.

Two perfect innings, a 497th save, and a Central that flipped

Drew Sommers (2-4) threw two perfect innings and struck out five. That is the win. Tyler Kinley and Brant Hurter had already quieted Chicago after Brieske. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 21st save in 27 chances. The ESPN recap said it was the 497th of his career.

Vargas went 2-for-5 with the homer, a double, and three RBI. Montgomery had two hits and three RBI. Doyle doubled, scored twice, and was the man Lee missed in the first. The White Sox scored six in the first, two in the third, and nothing after. That is how a club loses 11-8 with a six-run lead and a first-place tag that does not survive the eighth.

Lee had spent the first seven innings, the MLB recap said, beating himself up for the bobble. "I kind of botched the play I was supposed to finish," he said through Lin. "I was kind of beating myself up for it. But luckily we stayed in the game until I finally got one out." The out he finally got was a baseball over the fence. The Tigers' dugout, the recap said, was at the rail for all of it.

One game out, eight to play, and a tiebreaker Chicago still owns

Chicago is 78-76. The ESPN recap said the White Sox trail Cleveland by one with eight remaining and still own the head-to-head tiebreaker after winning the season series. They also hold a one-game lead for the last American League wild card. A 6-1 first is supposed to protect that. It did not.

Detroit is 73-81. This was not a race night for the visitors either. It was a 16-hit reminder that a club under .500 can still take first place away from someone else for an evening. Saturday the series continues. Chicago has to win it back the old way.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Detroit at 17 team fantasy points, tied for third on the slate. Lee had 13 hitting FP. McGonigle had 10. Greene had 6. Sommers had 13 pitching FP. Chicago finished at 4.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*